Sep 24 2008
The railjet from Siemens is the new premium train in the high speed fleet at Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and, now, people from the industry and fairgoers will be able to board it for the first time at InnoTrans 2008.
At this bi-annual show in Berlin the vendor will present a shortened ÖBB railjet train formation, consisting of three cars and a locomotive. The standard configuration of the new ÖBB railjet is a seven-car set with a total of 408 seats in five different types of car: a driving trailer with premium class area where the seats can be adjusted to a reclining position; an open-plan car for the first class; a Bistro car; and four open-plan cars in the economy class, one of them with a family area.
The Bistro car accommodates the area reserved for wheelchair users, who can access it via lifts at the car entrance doors with the help of the train crew. All cars are fully air-conditioned.
Every railjet is hauled by a Taurus locomotive and is operated in push/pull mode. A rake is 186 meters long and, counting the locomotive, even as much as 205 meters in length. In their current configuration the trains are designed to run at 230 km/h and meet all requirements in international high speed rail traffic. SF400 type bogies are used, which have also been in service for the ICE2 in Germany for years.
Tests almost complete
The ÖBB railjet is due to obtain certification in seven countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic), for which different verification documents are required. The first trains have been undergoing trials since May 2008, which involve thorough checks and testing of the air-conditioning and brake systems, the running gear, the mechanical stability and strength of the car body, as well as interior and outside noise levels. Almost all of these tests have been completed in the meantime.
Final assembly of the railjet is being carried out at two production facilities: the Siemens plant in Vienna and the ÖBB-Technische Services GmbH factory in Wien-Simmering (Vienna). The Siemens plant in Graz, Austria is supplying the bogies. Two trains a month are to be delivered between the end of August and the end of November 2008. The first railjets will enter regularly scheduled service in time for start of the winter timetable in December.
ÖBB first ordered 23 railjets from Siemens in January 2006 and then exercised its option for another 44 trains in September 2007. The overall order is worth around EUR 812 million.