The BLS RABe 528, also known as MIKA, is a

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of passenger

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

manufactured by

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

for

BLS AG BLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. Its ownership is divided, with 55.8% of it owned by the canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two ma ...

. It is a derivative of the

Stadler FLIRT Stadler FLIRT (, ) is a passenger multiple unit trainset made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. The baseline design of FLIRT is an electric multiple unit Articulated car, articulated trainset that can come in units of two to twelve cars with two t ...

and began entering service in 2021. It is comparable to the

Traverso The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse (side-blown) flutes to which the C flute belongs. Almost all are made of metal or wood, or a combination of the two. A musician who plays the flute ...

Südostbahn The Südostbahn (German language, German, ) – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Switzerland, Swiss railway company, and a network in Central Switzerland, Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the Schweizerische S ...

History

ordered 58 trainsets from

in 2017 at a cost of . BLS planned to use the trains on

Bern S-Bahn The Bern S-Bahn (; ) is an S-Bahn commuter rail network focused on Bern, the capital city of Switzerland. The network is roughly coterminous with Bern's urban agglomeration. Its services connect with those of Lucerne S-Bahn, RER Fribourg, RER ...

services and on longer

RegioExpress RegioExpress, commonly abbreviated to RE, is a Train categories in Europe, category of fast regional train service in Switzerland, run by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) or other railway companies (such as Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia, ...

services. The RABe 528 will replace locomotive-hauled coaches and the and multiple units. The first trains entered service on 10 May 2021 on the

InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...

66 between and .

Design

Each formation is composed of six cars, with a maximum seating capacity of 275. They can accommodate another 200 standees. Altogether the formation is long. Cars are wide and tall. The design speed is . There are different internal layouts for longer-distance trains compared to

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

trains but they are mechanically identical.

Naming

It is common customs for Swiss railway companies to name their locomotives (e.g.

SBB Re 620 The Re 620, Re 6/6 in the old Swiss locomotive and railcar classification, numbering scheme, are six-axle, electric locomotives of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), which were acquired as a replacement for the SBB Ae 6/6, Ae 6/6 for heavy ser ...

BLS Re 465 The Re 460, popularly known as the ''Lok 2000'', are a Swiss locomotive and railcar classification, class of modern four-axle electric locomotives of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), similar to the Re 465 of BLS AG, BLS. Although designed a ...

) and MUs (e.g.

SBB RABe 501 The RABe 501, nicknamed ''Giruno'', is a high-speed electric multiple unit train built by Stadler Rail of Switzerland for the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). According to Stadler Rail, it was the world's first single-decker low-floor high-speed ...

, SOB RABe 526,

BLS RABe 515 The BLS RABe 515, also known as MUTZ, is a Swiss locomotive and railcar classification, class of bilevel rail car, bilevel electric multiple units manufactured by Stadler Rail for BLS AG. It is a second-generation derivative of the Stadler KISS. ...

, BLS RABe 525). Ten BLS RABe 528 are named after

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Swiss cantons The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important periods in the development of ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

and

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

, while two additional ones are named after

in the Italian state of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. Each train bears the commune's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

(COA) below the driver's window. The list below contains only named trainsets with their respective number (№). , RABe 528 110 has a special livery of

Kambly Kambly (; officially Kambly SA) is a Swiss commercial bakery and manufacturer of biscuits based in Trubschachen (BE), Switzerland. Founded in 1910 by Oscar Robert Kambly in the Emmental region, the company remains family-owned and exports their ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline
RABe 528 – «MIKA» – The future has begun

Technical drawing
Stadler Rail multiple units Multiple units of Switzerland Train-related introductions in 2021 15 kV AC multiple units