Railpool orders 42 locomotives from Bombardier and Siemens

Frankfurt am Main (ots) -

Response to the growing demand for rail vehicles from private rail
operators

Contribution to the strengthening of transport infrastructure

Railpool is further expanding its fleet of locomotives. Yesterday
the Munich-based rail rolling stock leasing company ordered a total
of 42 locomotives from Bombardier and Siemens which will be delivered
until mid-2013. 36 of these locomotives are the well established
TRAXX models from Bombardier Transportation, whilst a further 6
locomotives will be supplied by Siemens Mobility. This is the first
order for Siemens' newly developed Vectron generation.

Railpool intends to meet rising demand for leased locomotives with
its latest investment. The company has been able to steadily expand
its business over the past two years despite the economic crisis.
Rail freight has grown much faster than expected during the economic
recovery. In Germany alone, transport volumes in the rail freight
transport sector had risen by 16.7% by the third quarter of 2010
compared with the previous year.

The joint venture between HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH is
now well established in the marketplace some two years since its
formation in July 2008 and has grown to become one of the leading
players. In addition to passenger transport vehicles, Railpool's
portfolio currently includes now 100 modern electric locomotives.

"Thanks to the increasing privatisation of the European rail
system, demand for rail vehicles from private rail operators is
growing at a steady pace. Railpool is able to satisfy this demand.
Railpool allows us to not only offer our European customers finance
and leasing services, but also to provide a full-service package
including maintenance and fleet management", explains Torsten Temp,
Member of the Managing Board of HSH Nordbank and responsible for the
market devisions Shipping, Transport and Energy.

"Strengthening the transport infrastructure is a core task for KfW
IPEX-Bank. Our concept of covering the growing demand for leased
locomotives by our own leasing company has been a great success. The
new expansion in our locomotive fleet illustrates this resoundingly,"
says Christian K. Murach, Member of the Management Board of KfW
IPEX-Bank, of the deal.

"This is the second locomotive order placed in just over two years
by Railpool as a relatively young company. This means that we now
have a locomotive pool of 100 units and can thus continue to satisfy
market demand. In addition to the well established TRAXX locomotives
with a number of innovations, the portfolio also includes Siemens'
newly developed Vectron. This demonstrates that Railpool is also open
to new developments," says Dr Walter Breinl, Railpool's CEO.

Enquiries:

Sandra Hülsmann, HSH Nordbank AG, Telefon: 040/3333-10763,
Sandra.huelsmann@hsh-nordbank.com

Dr. Axel Breitbach, KfW IPEX-Bank, Telefon: 069/ 7431 2961,
Axel.breitbach@kfw.de

About Railpool

Railpool GmbH was founded as a joint venture between HSH Nordbank
and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH in 2008 and leases rail vehicles, locomotives,
multiple units and double-deck coaches with and without full service
to private rail operators. Railpool is active in rail freight as well
as passenger traffic all over Europe. With this order the number of
locomotives is going to increase to 100 and the investment volume of
Railpool is going to rise to approximately EUR 450 million.

About HSH Nordbank AG

HSH Nordbank is a dependable partner to the business community in
Northern Germany. The group's total assets amount to around EUR 162
billion. The bank employs approximately 3,400 full-time staff
offering a wide range of high-quality banking services to its
corporate clients and wealthy private customers. On the international
scene, the bank focuses on the key industries of the region:
shipping, transport and energy. It has been involved in this market
for decades as one of the world's leading providers of ship finance.
In the transport sector HSH Nordbank works closely with the aviation
industry and is also involved with project finance for transport
infrastructures. In the energy sector the bank is one of the top
finance providers for wind and solar energy projects in Europe

About KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH

Within KfW Bankengruppe, KfW IPEX-Bank is in charge of
international project and export finance. It is responsible for
providing financing to support the German and European economy, a
task derived from the legal mandate assigned to the KfW banking
group. Its prime focus is on medium and long-term lending to boost
the export economy, develop economic and social infrastructure and
support environmental and climate protection projects. KfW IPEX-Bank
operates as a legally independent group subsidiary and plays a major
role in fulfilling the promotional mission of KfW Bankengruppe. It
has approx. 521 employees (as of 31 December 2009) and is represented
in the key economic and financial centres around the globe.

Pressekontakt:
KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, Palmengartenstraße 5-9, 60325 Frankfurt
Pressestelle: E-Mail: presse.ipex@kfw.de
Tel. +49(0)69 7431-3300, Fax: +49(0)69 7431-9409,
E-Mail: info@kfw-ipex-bank.de, Internet: www.kfw-ipex-bank.de