The Talent is a

multiple unit A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more Coach (rail), carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled ...

light train manufactured by Bombardier that was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name ''Talent'' is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

in German for ''TALbot LEichter Nahverkehrs-Triebwagen'' (in English, ''Talbot light suburban self-propelled car''). It comes in a number of variants, including high-floor, low-floor, diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic, diesel-electric, electric, and tilting, and in lengths of two, three, or four carriages. As with most multiple-unit trains, Talent units can run individually, or be coupled together to form longer trains.

Specifications

Classified as

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

according to UIC standards, the Talent is a two-, three- or four-part articulated

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

with Jacobs bogies. Partially as a result of this, the interior of an entire unit is essentially a single, long cabin; it is possible to see or walk from end to end without opening doors or passing through narrower gangways. The sharing of bogies also means that a Talent unit cannot be easily disassembled or rearranged without the assistance of a railway yard. In those variants whose floor is above the rails, this means that the articulation floor is raised, but with ramp access, since it needs to be higher than the wheel diameter, above rail level. In the variants with floor height, the floor is flat from the first door to the last. The endsections have a raised floor in all variants, because the traction equipment installed underneath requires more space than unpowered bogies. The optional tilting system (called ContRoll) is unique: no swinging bolster is required between the bogie and the car body, but hydraulic cylinders, fitted between the anti roll bar system and the carbody, directly actuate the tilting.

Service

After a prototype was presented in 1994, the first Talents entered service in 1996. They are used by mainline railways in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. More than 260 are in service worldwide. In a more unusual use, three diesel Talents identical to Deutsche Bahn's class 643 once formed the fleet for Ottawa's

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

Line 2, a diesel light rail transit line running entirely within the City of Ottawa. Line 2 shares a lightly used freight railway line. As the Talent is not certified for concurrent shared-track operation with freight trains in North America, freight traffic is not permitted on Line 2's route while passenger services are running. Although it is still legally classified as a main-line railway, Transport Canada allow O-Train Line 2 to use One-Person Train Operation, with fares collected through a proof-of-payment system. In March 2015, all three Talent units were replaced by

Alstom Coradia LINT The Alstom Coradia LINT is an Articulated car, articulated railcar of the Alstom Coradia family manufactured by Alstom since 1999, offered in diesel and hydrogen fuel models. The acronym ''LINT'' is short for the German ''"leichter innovativer Na ...

diesel units. The Talent has now been superseded by the Bombardier Talent 2 and Talent 3.

Operators

* Austria ** Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB Class 4023, 4024, 4124 *** Salzburg S-Bahn ***

Vienna S-Bahn The Vienna S-Bahn is a suburban commuter rail network in Vienna, Austria. As opposed to the city-run urban metro network, the Vienna U-Bahn, it extends beyond the borders of the city, is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB (Austria ...

*** Tyrol S-Bahn *** Styria S-Bahn *** Vorarlberg S-Bahn *** Carinthia S-Bahn *** Upper Austria S-Bahn * Germany **

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

( DB Regio) Class 643/943, 644/944 *** DB Regio Baden-Württemberg *** DB Regio NRW *** DB Regio Mitte **

Transdev Germany Transdev Germany is the largest private operator of passenger buses and trains in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Transdev. History In 1997, Aktiengesellschaft für Industrie und Verkehrswesen was purchased by a Veolia Transport, CGEA Group (60% ...

***

Nord-Ostsee-Bahn Nord-Ostsee-Bahn or NOB is a transport company which operates buses in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Based in Kiel, the company was established in 2000 and is owned by Transdev Germany, Transdev. The company formerly operated the Marsh Railway ...

*** NordWestBahn *** Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn *** Ostmecklenburgische Eisenbahn ***

Bayerische Oberlandbahn The Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH (BOB) is a private railway company based in Holzkirchen, Germany, and owned by Transdev Germany (formerly known as ''Veolia Verkehr''). Since June 2020 its services are operated under the brand Bayerische Regi ...

eurobahn Eurobahn GmbH & Co. KG is a railway operator in Germany, established in 1998. It operates 15 regional train services in 4 contracts in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with cross-border services including Lower Saxony and the Netherlands. ...

** Rhenus Veniro * Hungary ** Hungarian State Railways MÁV Class 425 * Norway Saltfjellet

** SJ Norge (see NSB Class 93 for details) *** Nordland Line ***

Rauma Line The Rauma Line () is a long railway between the town of Åndalsnes (in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county), and the village of Dombås (in Dovre Municipality in Innlandet county), in Norway. Running down the Romsdalen valley, the line ...

***

Røros Line The Røros Line () is a rail transport, railway line which runs through the districts of Norway, districts of Hedmarken, Østerdalen, and Gauldalen in Innlandet and Trøndelag, Norway. The line branches off from the Dovre Line at Hamar Station ...

* Romania ** Transferoviar Călători (ex-Regiobahn) * Slovakia ** RegioJet (leased by Alpha Trains) *** Bratislava–Dunajská Streda–Komarno railway

Former operations

* Canada ** Ottawa O-Train, Trillium Line * Germany ** Regiobahn ** Dortmund-Märkische Eisenbahn

References

External links