K&L Gates Advises Rock Rail and John Laing on Procurement and Lease Financing of 61 Battery Trains for Northern Westphalia Network

Global law firm K&L Gates LLP advised Rock Rail Holdings Limited and John Laing Investments Management Services Limited on the successful lease financing of 61 new battery-powered trains for the Northern Westphalia Network (NnW).

The project was procured by Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL), the public transport authority for the region. Under the leasing structure, Rock Rail NnW Limited & Co. KG will provide the trains to an operator selected by NWL and Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen mbH (LNVG). Financing is provided through equity from John Laing and Rock Rail and debt financing from various infrastructure debt investors.

Manufactured by Siemens Mobility, the state-of-the-art battery electric multiple units (BEMUs) represent the latest generation of rolling stock and are scheduled to enter service across the Northern Westphalia  Network (NnW) in December 2029. The project will deliver what is currently the second-largest BEMU fleet in Germany and marks a significant step in the modernization of regional rail transport and the transition to more sustainable mobility.

K&L Gates regularly advises Rock Rail Holdings Limited on the acquisition and financing of rolling stock for regional passenger transport projects in Germany.

The K&L Gates team that advised Rock Rail Holdings Limited and Laing Investments Management Services Limited was led by Frankfurt partner Dr. Frank Thomas and Munich counsel Anne Thümmel-Barz. They were supported by Berlin partners Christoph Mank, Dr. Annette Mutschler-Siebert, and Dr. Anja Rösch, Berlin counsels Marion Baumann and Dr. Patricia Prelinger, Munich senior associate Patrick Glück, and Berlin senior associate Maxim Horvath.