ŽS series 812 (former JŽ series 812) was a diesel motor

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

operated by

Serbian Railways Serbian Railways ( sr, Железнице Србије/''Železnice Srbije'', abbr. ŽS or ЖС) is a Serbian engineering and technical consulting company based in Belgrade, Serbia. In 2015, the Government of Serbia established three new compan ...

. Originally it was the German

Uerdingen railbus The Uerdingen railbus (German: ''Uerdinger Schienenbus'') is the common term for the multiple units which were developed by the German firm of Waggonfabrik Uerdingen for the Deutsche Bundesbahn and private railways after the Second World War. T ...

produced by

Goša FOM Goša FOM ( sr-Cyrl, Гоша ФОМ; full legal name: Goša Fabrika Opreme i Mašina, sr-Cyrl, Гоша Фабрика Опреме и Машина) is a Serbian rail vehicle and equipment manufacturer, based in Smederevska Palanka, Serbia. ...

for

Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...

(JŽ).

History

In the early 1950s,

decided to import a large number of diesel multiple units for traffic on local railway lines. The decision was made on the Uerdinger Schienenbus VT 95 series. The first multiple units in red livery arrived in 1955, and by 1959 there were 40 in service. Having performed well in service it was decided to purchase the license for mass production. The production started at

wagon factory from

Smederevska Palanka Smederevska Palanka ( sr-cyr, Смедеревска Паланка, ) is a town and municipality located in the Podunavlje District and the geographical region of Šumadija. According to the 2011 census, the town has 23,601, while the municipalit ...

and the first domestic-made railbuses were delivered to Yugoslav Railways in silver livery. A total of 270 diesel multiple units were produced by Goša FOM until 1969, which contributed to the replacement of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s in local passenger traffic.

Name

The official name of VT 95 series with Yugoslav Railways was JŽ series 812. In the 1A+2 configuration when two motor cars are connected so one is pulling another as a wagon, the DMU is known as JŽ 812/816. This configuration is basic but it was rarely used due to the small number of passengers. The first nickname was "Silver Arrow" (''

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

: Srebrna strela/ Сребрна стрела'') due to its silver livery. It was so much faster than the old steam locomotives, the railwaymen nicknamed it "Rabbit" (''

: Zec/ Зец''). Because of its German origin, it is nicknamed by passengers as Schienenbus (''

: Šinobus/ Шинобус''), which is widely known among the people of former Yugoslavia.

Service

Šinobus was operated by Serbian Railways (ŽS) on several local lines until 2016, mainly in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. Due to their age, ŽS class 812 were replaced by the new ŽS series 711 diesel multiple units.RTS - Old timer on tracks (Serbian)
/ref> There are some 30 railbuses in inventory but only five or six are operational. A number of JŽ series 812 have been operated by Croatian Railways (HŽ) as

HŽ series 7221 7221 series was a diesel motor railbus on Croatian Railways Croatian Railways ( hr, Hrvatske željeznice; abbreviated as HŽ) is the national railway company of Croatia. Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC ...

but they are no longer in service. It stands for one of the most popular railway vehicles in the former Yugoslavia.

Gallery

File:ŽS 812 at Kanjiža.jpg, Šinobus at its terminal station

Kanjiža Kanjiža ( sr-Cyrl, Кањижа, pronounced ) formerly Stara Kanjiža ( sr-cyrl, Стара Кањижа; yi, קניזשא; hu, Magyarkanizsa, formerly ''Kanizsa'') is a town and municipality located in the North Banat District of the autonomous ...

File:Horgos sinobusz.png, Series 812 railbus at Horgoš station, Serbia File:Ruma junction train to Sabac.JPG, Šinobus on Ruma-Šabac line. Šinobus has been replaced on this line with series 711 DMU. File:Ruma junction.JPG, ŽS series 812 next to

ŽS series 441 Serbian Railways ( sr, Железнице Србије/''Železnice Srbije'', abbr. ŽS or ЖС) is a Serbian engineering and technical consulting company based in Belgrade, Serbia. In 2015, the Government of Serbia established three new compa ...

at Ruma File:09.05.11 Zrenjanin Class 812 (5812990315).jpg, ŽS series 812/816 at Zrenjanin depot

References

External links

SINOBUS - the only website dedicated to the DMU 812
{{DEFAULTSORT:ZS 812

812 __NOTOC__ Year 812 ( DCCCXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 11 – Ex-emperor Staurakios, a son of Nikephoros I, dies ...

Train-related introductions in 1955