The ecological benefits of lightweight construction are clear: The less a vehicle weighs, the less energy is needed to set it in motion and the lower are emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution. “With its high yield strength and good corrosion resistance, 1.4318 is ideal for lightweight construction,” says Wolfgang Gebel from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta technical customer support. “Even thin panels displays high strength and rigidity.”

“We decided to do without external painting altogether,” says Andreas Knitter, Alstom CEO. “Stainless steel surfaces are easier to clean, make expensive painting superfluous, and the high stainless steel content translates into another benefit for the environment: The new vehicles are made of 95 percent recyclable material.” To allow the DT5 to shine without painting, the stainless steel panels used for the outer structure were provided with a special ground finish at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta to make the surface less sensitive and give it a silky shine.

The full order includes the delivery of up to 67 vehicles by 2015. For ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, road and rail vehicles are an important market with major growth potential. “Environmental protection is becoming more and more important all over the world,” says Gebel. “We expect a renaissance of urban rail transit and a major expansion of networks, combined with modernization of the vehicle fleet, which we intend to benefit from. Various possibilities of use, very good formability and in particular sustainability mean that more and more manufacturers in the transportation sector are turning to stainless steel.” Stainless steel from Krefeld has been used in a variety of projects for many years: Examples include Basel, where a total of 60 new trams of type “Tango” are to be deployed in the next ten years, the Bombardier cars for the metro in New Delhi, India, and the double-deck cars for Deutsche Bahn. Throughout the world the experts from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta in association with rail industry specialists are proving that stainless steel from ThyssenKrupp is a fast track to success.