Stadler GTW
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Stadler GTW (, ) is an 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 ...
for local transport made 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 ...
of
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.


History

The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near
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 ...
, Switzerland was looking for a lighter train model to replace its aging fleet, so that a low-floor system does not require heavy installations on the roof. Based on that requirement Stadler came up with a concept of placing most of the equipment in a central unit between the seating cars. While the BTI-Bahn tracks are meter gauge, Stadler presented the first prototype in 1995 set on standard-gauge track, and the Mittelthurgau-Bahn tested three prototypes on its standard-gauge network during 1996. The rolling stock for Mittelthurgau was later expanded to ten GTW 2/6 units (built 1998–1999) that are now part of the THURBO fleet (the three prototypes were sold to Italy). The next lots were produced in meter gauge and were delivered to the BTI-Bahn and the CEV-Bahn ( Chemins de fer électriques Veveysans) in 1997although the BTI-Bahn was first to order any GTWs with its seven trains, the CEV-Bahn ordered the biggest lot of the first generation with twenty trains. In 1998 the Linzer Lokalbahn (Austria) placed an order which needed to be modified to conform to the DIN 5510 class 2 safety standard, as well as different electrification. These eight trains were delivered in 2000 from the Swiss facilities and an option of six more trains was fulfilled in 2005. Another modification was done for the River Line (New Jersey) with an order of twenty DMUs delivered in 2002 and 2003 from the Swiss facilities. During that time the
Hessische Landesbahn Hessische Landesbahn (Hessian State Railway, HLB) is a regional transport company owned by the German state of Hesse, based in Frankfurt am Main. It provides bus and rail passenger transport services and, to a lesser extent, rail freight services ...
(HLB) in Germany was also looking at the new system but actual procurement was delayed until the second generation. In the beginning, Stadler was cooperating with ADtranz/DWA in Germany with the initial batch produced in 1999 at DWA Bautzen (Saxony). Its headshape design follows the style of the
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 ...
trains as they were already on production at DWA, and eventually the DB Regio services also ordered a batch of 30 trains similar to the 30 trains ordered by the HLB, differing only in the height of the low-floor section. The full series were then manufactured at the new Stadler Pankow (Berlin) facilities being built in 2000 by a joint venture with ADtranz. Stadler acquired their shares in 2001 and the final vehicles were delivered from that plant in 2001 by Stadler alone. The second generation can be easily distinguished by its round headshape made from FRP ( glass-fiber–reinforced plastic). These follow the DB design being produced since 2000 for other customers as well, for example a batch of 12 trains went to Athens (Greece) in meter gauge (ordered in 1999, delivered since 2003). With the second generation the available options for GTW trains expandedmeter-gauge vehicles can be ordered in a width and the standard-gauge vehicles in a width. Also the GTW 2/6 may be expanded with an additional bogie car making it a GTW 2/8. The third generation has minor modifications to the head shape but the more important changes were made to the power modulethe electric variant now has instead of up to , and the diesel–electric variant is available as a DMU-2 with two generators instead of one. This allowed for increasing the maximum speed, which was a requirement of Italian customers; in Italy, this type is known as ATR 100. The Vinschgerbahn (Bolzano) was the first to order twelve DMU-2 sets in 2004, extended by eight vehicles of the same type for the Udine–Cividale line (Padova), also in 2004. The DMU-2 concept impressed the Arriva operator in the Netherlands which ordered 43 trains in 2005 asking for some further developmentsthe modified type sold well to other operators in the Netherlands and abroad, as both DMU and EMU variants. The fourth generation came along with new regulations in the EU that increased the crashworthiness requirements (see EN 15227). Trains had to comply with these requirements by 2008 (see 2008/57/EC). This is the same year that much of the production was moved to the branch factory in
Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...
, Poland. 551 units have been sold until 2011 and are in use in
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 ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
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 ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Because of the crashworthiness requirements, the GTW gained weight over time. In the concept of 1998 it had per seat while in 2010 the base model 2/6 had increased to per seat. This was higher than a FLIRT ET 22 in 2007, at per seat. As a consequence, the manufacturer saw its biggest customers, Arriva and Connexxion, switch over to the FLIRT models for the following deliveries in 2012. Only some replacements for diesel–electric and cog-wheel trains followed after that point in time. For those application areas Stadler introduced the
WINK A wink is a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. However, it is ambiguous by itself and highly dependent upon additional c ...
concept (or Flirtino) in 2018. FLIRT and WINK are the next-generation models that can support updated crash worthiness requirements. Like Stadler's GTW family of multiple units, WINK has a central power module containing the energy generation, traction and auxiliary systems, while the frame and other parts are derived from the FLIRT models.


Description

Stadler GTW is family of vehicles which differ externally, in the various designs of the head of the vehicle (from angular to
streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...
), and also in the different designs and power units that drive them. They also come in different gauges and as
rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
vehicles. The basic version is the ''GTW 2/6'', a railcar which conforms to UIC standards. "2/6" means "two of six axles are powered". The GTW 2/6 is used for example by
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 ...
as ''Baureihe 646'' (Series 646) and by Swiss railways as ''RABe 526''. The basic concept is rather unconventional: the car is driven by a central "power module", also known as a "powerpack" or a "drive container", powered on both axles. Two light end modules, each with a
bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...
, rest on the power module, which produces useful traction weight on the driving axles. The end modules also use the space very effectively, although the railcar is divided into two halves by the power module. Most units have a path through the drive container for passenger access. The end modules can be delivered with standard pulling devices or buffer gears, or with central buffer couplings. They are built with a low-floor design except above the bogies and at the supported ends (more than 65% of the railcar is low-floor). All of the usual comforts to be expected in a modern local network railcar are provided, such as
air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
, a multi-purpose room, vacuum toilets (in a washroom suitable for the disabled) and a passenger information system. The GTWs can be diesel–electric or electric-powered (via
overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the tec ...
or
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...
). Although the traction is good for the powered bogies the concept has the same problem as other light railcars with the brakes on the non-powered axles having lower grip than traditional railcars. This has led to actual restrictions when leaves are on the rails as the wheel slide protection can not fully compensate the effect. The central power module has limits with heat dissipation as well which can lead into situations where the power output needs to be limited which is automatically done in this construction concept.


Propulsion

There are diesel propulsion modules with (since 2003) with 2 x = power available, and electric propulsion modules with . IGBT based traction converters together with asynchronous motors are used as drive units. The traction converters are manufactured by ABB at their site in Turgi, Switzerland and the motors by TSA Austria. By inserting a middle car (also with only one bogie) on one side of the propulsion module, the GTW 2/6 is expanded to GTW 2/8. Instead of the middle car, another drive module can also be inserted. Between the two modules are then either a trailer passenger car (GTW 4/8) or two medium cars and partitions (GTW 4/12). For operational flexibility up to four GTWs of the same pattern can be operated as a multiple unit.


Applications


France

The Panoramique des Dômes in France uses 4 GTW 2/6 since opening in 2012.


Greece

In Greece, Hellenic Train operates two variants of the Stadler GTW 2/6 (known also incorrectly as
railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar with an automotive engine. It shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels (2 axles) on a fixed base instead of on bogies. O ...
), owned by OSE. It is the main suburban DMU and there are two variants i.e. the metric and the standard gauge. The metric gauge variant (OSE class 4501) operates in the Suburban of Patras (
Proastiakos The Proastiakos (; "suburban") is Greece's commuter rail service, run by Hellenic Train, on rail infrastructure owned by the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) (lines) and GAIAOSE (buildings and Trains). These services connect a participating ...
) and the tourist line of KatakoloPyrgosAncient Olympia. The
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
variant (OSE class 560) operates on the regional service Athens–Lianokladi and the local Lianokladi–Lamia–Stylida line (which is referred to as Proastiakos Lamias). In the near future, it is expected they will operate on different lines due to the electrification of the main network.


Italy

In Italy GTW are used by some regional railways, and called ATR: * ATR 100: Societá Automobilistica Dolomiti (SAD) Trentino Alto Adige * ATR 110: Ferrovie Udine Cividale (FUC) Friuli * ATR 110, ATR 120: Sistemi Territoriali (ST) Veneto * ATR 115, ATR 125: Ferrovie Nord Milano Group Lombardia * ATR 200: Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) Puglia


Netherlands

The multinational transport company
Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
uses the diesels on the lines: Leer (Germany)Groningen, Delfzijl–Groningen, Leeuwarden–Groningen, Roodeschool/Eemshaven–Sauwerd, Veendam–Zuidbroek, Leeuwarden–Stavoren, LeeuwardenHarlingen Haven. From December 2012, Arriva is also using diesel GTW's on Arnhem–Winterswijk, Winterswijk–Zutphen and Zutphen–Apeldoorn. The electrified GTW are used on the lines DordrechtGorinchemGeldermalsen (since 2018 by transport company Qbuzz) and since December 2012 also on ZwolleEmmen. Since December 2022 electrified GTW's are also used on the weekly Arriva night train service between Groningen and Schiphol Airport. Arriva Limburg uses electric GTW on the lines Kerkrade Centrum Heerlen Maastricht Randwyck, Heerlen–Maastricht, and the diesels are used on the lines: RoermondVenloNijmegen. Connexxion was using one electric GTW for the line: Barneveld Centrum Amersfoort, This GTW is transferred to the Vechtdallijnen from Arriva, Connexxion is also using 9 diesel GTW's for the Breng concession starting December 2012.


Slovakia

The Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK) Class 425.95 is used on the Tatra Electric Railway. The design of these trains was derived from the GTW 2/6. The ZSSK Class 495.95 trains are used on both the Tatra Electric Railway and the Štrbské Pleso–Štrba rack railway. The ZSSK Class 840 trains also derived from the GTW 2/6 are in use on the normal-gauge railways in the
Poprad Poprad (; ; ) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. The largest town of the Spiš region and the largest of all towns in the vic ...
region. Class 840 trains are also used on the Bratislava—
Komárno Komárno (, , ), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom'', ''Öregkomárom'', ''Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian, is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Historically it was formed by the "old ...
line from December 2020


Spain

The Catalan government-owned Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) purchased two diesel-powered, Iberian gauge trains for use on the Lleida–La Pobla Line. This allowed the service frequency to be increased from 4 to 10 trains per day between
Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
and Balaguer, and 1 to 4 per day between Lleida and La Pobla de Segur. A third new set is scheduled to enter service by August 2021. The company also owns 7 narrow gauge trains for their rack railway lines, the first 5 trains were purchased in 2000 for the Montserrat rack railway and the remaining two were ordered in 2001 for the Vall de Núria rack raikway. These units are electric-powered using a pantograph installed on the central carriage. Additionally, the Nuria trains have a second pantograph in the front car to remove ice and snow from the overhead wires on colder seasons. Between 2020 and 2022, the two trains from the Núria line have been transferred to the Montserrat line.


Switzerland

The
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...
use a narrow version of the GTW 2/6 (RABe 520) on the Seetal railway line and between Lenzburg and Zofingen. THURBO uses a large fleet of RABe 526 (GTW 2/6 and 2/8) on various lines in eastern Switzerland. Regionalverkehr Mittelland bought several GTW 2/6, which were later extended to GTW 2/8 and finally sold to the Swiss Federal Railways in 2013. Various
narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
s use GTWs: Chemins de fer du Jura, Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn, and the Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera.


United States


New Jersey

*
River Line The River Line (stylized as River LINE) is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) service in South Jersey, southern New Jersey that connects the cities of Camden, New Jersey, Camden and Trenton, New Jersey, Trento ...
*:
New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...
uses 20 GTW diesel light rail vehicles on the
River Line The River Line (stylized as River LINE) is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) service in South Jersey, southern New Jersey that connects the cities of Camden, New Jersey, Camden and Trenton, New Jersey, Trento ...
service between Trenton and Camden. The diesel LRV offers a tighter turning radius than typical main line light rail vehicles (i.e.
Siemens Desiro The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of Diesel multiple unit, diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens, Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, ...
,
Bombardier Talent The Talent is a multiple unit light train manufactured by Bombardier that was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot in Aachen shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name ''Talent'' is an acronym in German for ''TALbot L ...
, etc.) and thus is capable of
street running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as ru ...
, a capability used in the River Line between Walter Rand Transportation Center and Entertainment Center stations in Camden. *GTW trains are also planned to operate on SNJLR's Glassboro–Camden Line, currently in development.


Austin, Texas

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CapMetro) in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, uses ten Diesel rail vehicles of the type GTW 2/6 on its red line from Leander to Downtown Austin. CapMetro originally purchased 6 GTW DMUs from Stadler in 2005, but expanded their fleet to 10 units in 2017. The 4 newer units feature LED destination signs instead of flip-dot signs, a slightly tweaked paint scheme (to better match the MetroBus paint scheme), and an updated engine car design that features a rounded top rather than an angular top as found on the older DMUs.


Denton County, Texas

The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA), announced on May 20, 2009, that it would purchase 11 GTW 2/6 articulated diesel multiple units (DMUs) for DCTA's corridor from Denton to Carrollton. This line connects with the
Dallas Area Rapid Transit Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is a transit agency serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex of Texas. It operates buses, light rail, commuter rail, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Dallas and twelve of its suburbs. In , the system had a r ...
(DART) Green Line which extends from the Pleasant Grove neighborhood in southeast
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
to northern Carrollton. The contract includes an option for up to 25 additional GTWs.


East Bay, California

In 2014, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District Authority ordered eight GTW 2/6 DMUs for the
eBART eBART (East Contra Costa County BART extension) is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) branch line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in eastern Contra Costa County, California, United States. The lin ...
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
tracks (the rapid transit system uses a wide gauge) to
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
with two options to procure six more. The first trains were delivered by June 2017, with revenue service starting in May 2018.


See also

*
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 ...
* Nippon Sharyo DMU


References


External links


Stadler GTW

Stadler GTW Articulated Railcars Info & Images
{{German DMUs Stadler Rail multiple units Articulated passenger trains Multiple units of Switzerland Diesel multiple units of the Netherlands Train-related introductions in 1995