Siemens Denies Extent Of Delay In Train Delivery To Deutsche Bahn

German engineering conglomerate Siemens AG (SI) Friday said delivery of new high-speed trains to Deutsche Bahn AG will be delayed by three months, but denied a report saying it may not be able to provide them until 2013.

"The delivery of Siemens' first set of Velaro D trains will be delayed by only up to three months due to delays at a supplier," a Siemens spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

The company expects to deliver the first units in February 2012, with a total of 14 trains to be delivered in the coming year, the spokesman said.

In December 2008, Deutsche Bahn placed an order with Siemens for the Velaro D eight-car high-speed trains for Germany, which were scheduled to be delivered this year.

Earlier Friday, Financial Times Deutschland reported that Siemens' delay in delivering new high-speed trains to Deutsche Bahn AG could jeopardize the railway operator's plans to offer a service to London by 2013, citing a report by Deutsche Bahn's management board.

The newspaper reported that Siemens will now only be able to provide them in 2013 at the earliest, with deliveries extended until 2015.

"We can't understand the delivery dates for the Velaro D stated in the report," Siemens said.

The newspaper also reported that the delay would also make it impossible for Deutsche Bahn to remedy a train shortage in its national fleet by next year, in an advance edition of its Saturday publication.

Deutsche Bahn added, "We don't think it has anything to do with planned services to London."

-By Kirsten Bienk, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

(Nico Schmidt in Frankfurt contributed to this article.)