about SBB Re4/4, Re6/6, EWII withdrawal and replacement trains

[Bletchleyite]

Thank you. If they won't be scrapped immediately, that opens the doors for some opportunities.

There's much more of a trade in UIC compliant coaches than there is in UK ones, so they may well be sold instead of scrapped.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

CP are currently refurbishing their vintage Swiss-built coaches, which might have something to do with @Giugiaro 's interest.

 

[pcrail]

There are plenty of Swiss designed coaches around the world. The many years built standard coach of Indian Railway is a product of Schlieren. There are now about 50.000 built. Just recently, the design was changed to a design of the former Linke-Hofmann-Busch, now Alstom. The story about the Swiss coaches in India can be downloaded / read here.

 

[duesselmartin]

Any Schlieren stock left in Austria?

 

[pcrail]

Any Schlieren stock left in Austria?

At ÖBB they are gone since 2010.

 

[87015]

At ÖBB they are gone since 2010.

Arguable - city shuttle are just a knock off of it.

 

[Austriantrain]

Arguable - city shuttle are just a knock off of it.

They are actually not, just were called „New Schlieren“. Technically, nothing to do with the original, except for the conceptual idea to have a rather low floor (compared to what was usual at that time).

 

[zuriblue]

They had a big scrapping campaign a couple of years back, a lot of coaches were parked at Stein Säckingen on the Fricktal line. They went to a company at Stein who pulled them into a closed shed where they had the asbestos stripped out then on to Thommen at Kaiseraugst near Basel who treated the coaches with the same TLC as Sims Newport. I’ve seen a couple of EWIIs at the SBB Historic shed at Brugg so some still survive.

 

[pcrail]

I learned that May 11 was the last date, SBB was running the EW I train with 4 coaches + cab car and Re 4/4 II. This was then also the last day of EWI and EWII in regular service. There are only 5 coaches left: 3 pilot cars BDt used for non-revenue trains and 2 pilot cars used for prisoner transports. They form together with a Re 4/4 II the jail train which runs daily from Monday to Friday through Switzerland. The four coaches from the last train were taken to Chur, where they are used for exercises of the company fire brigade of SBB.

 

[duesselmartin]

do Swiss narrow gauge operators still operate their version of it?

 

[pcrail]

AFAIK yes, see for example this one in a picture of June 2021. Pic taken from this page.

 

[zuriblue]

Because of the disability legislation SBB are to withdraw EWIV stock earlier than planned (2027). They were expected to soldier on till the 2030s.

They will be replaced by the 60 KISS units bought from Stadler.

SBB rangieren alte Intercity-Wagen früher als erwartet aus

Der Einheitswagen IV war lange Zeit das Zugpferd der SBB. Eigentlich hätten die Wagen noch bis 2030 in Betrieb bleiben sollen. Nun wird das Modell früher als erwartet ausrangiert.

www.toponline.ch

In English from Toponline - the original NZZ article is behind a paywall:

SBB is shunting old intercity cars earlier than expected
The standard car IV was the workhorse of the SBB for a long time. Actually, the cars should have remained in operation until 2030. Now the model is being scrapped earlier than expected.

Almost everyone in Switzerland has already driven in it: the SBB standard car IV (EW IV). For decades, the wagons formed the backbone of long-distance transport in Switzerland. Actually, the recently modernized cars should have remained in use until the 2030s.

Now, however, the wagons are being scrapped by the SBB earlier than planned. This is reported by the “NZZ”. Around a hundred cars are to be replaced early. The Bundesbahnen used 60 additional double-decker trains from the Thurgau train builder Stadler as a replacement. With their delivery, the EW IV is to be gradually reduced until around 2027.

The car model last made headlines in 2019. At that time there was a fatal incident in Baden train station in which a train conductor was killed. The reason for this was a defect in the door's anti-trap protection. As a result, the SBB had to check 1,832 doors on the wagons. The technicians discovered other doors on which the anti-trap protection was defective.

The reason for the faster change of car is not the accident, but the Disability Equality Act. The guidelines of the Federal Office of Transport stipulate that by the end of 2023 there must be at least one train per hour and per direction on each long-distance route that has a level entry point. The EW IV cannot meet this requirement.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Mandated level boarding on every route is a great thing, of course. Switzerland embarrasses us in that regard - they are about to achieve it with low platforms, we have high platforms and still haven't managed it.

 

[duesselmartin]

They will / could be sold abroad?
What about foreign trains not fitting Swiss platform heights? Can they continue?

Mandated level boarding on every route is a great thing, of course. Switzerland embarrasses us in that regard - they are about to achieve it with low platforms, we have high platforms and still haven't managed it.

The UK is a lot better than in Germany in that regard. In the Ruhr we actually made things worse by buying trains that don't fit the platform.
But that is OT.

 

[dm1]

They will / could be sold abroad?
What about foreign trains not fitting Swiss platform heights? Can they continue?

A lot of the EW IV coaches are apparently not in great condition. Some of them have had extensive corrosion repair work done on them, but those are likely the ones to be kept. I'm not sure there are many coaches to be withdrawn that would be worth buying anywhere else.

International trains and tilting trains have certain exceptions from those accessibility rules - but trains like the Giruno mean that level boarding is possible at both Swiss/Italian and German platform heights (550mm and 760mm), so even then many of them will be accessible.

Germany having de facto two conflicting standard heights means a Giruno type solution is probably the only feasible option.

 

[pcrail]

Giruno is also not the solution. Inside the train is a ramp to connect the different floor heights. It is difficult to navigate because it is interrupted with horizontal parts, which are requirements of the PRM law. Normal people have now a tendency to stumble on this ramps.

 

[Austriantrain]

Giruno is also not the solution. Inside the train is a ramp to connect the different floor heights. It is difficult to navigate because it is interrupted with horizontal parts, which are requirements of the PRM law. Normal people have now a tendency to stumble on this ramps.

That is why I think that at least on long-distance rolling stock, accessibility should still be allowed by lift (which ideally of course should be able to be used by the passengers on their own). The new Railjet2-stock will be partly low-floor, meaning constantly having to negotiate ramps within the carriages.

 

[Re 4/4]

Article in the Swiss papers (in German) on the end of the EW series: https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/die-schweiz-verabschiedet-ihre-klassischen-eisenbahnwagen-736545611474

The place to experience EW from now on is the RhB, the article not only lists what they have left (80 EW I, 70 EW II, 10 EW III und 16 EW IV) but they're also developing a new EW V.

 

[pcrail]

at least on long-distance rolling stock, accessibility should still be allowed by lift

IMHO correct, but against the Swiss law.

 

[Stephen Lee]

Technically the 474s are from SBB Cargo; I assume you mean the 189s from MRCE? The only 186s they hire are from Akiem for the ROLA services operated with BLS; do they even hire any 185s?

SBBIN seem to be preferring Siemens locos with the Vectrons and more 189s (ES64F4) coming in and the 484s dropping out.

SBB Cargo has 109 Re420, 4 Re430 and 78 Re620, I wondered what will replace them......

 

[Jamesrob637]

SBB Cargo has 109 Re420, 4 Re430 and 78 Re620, I wondered what will replace them......

Probably nothing for at least ten years. They're good if old. Look how long Ae6/6 lasted.

 

[Stephen Lee]

Probably nothing for at least ten years. They're good if old. Look how long Ae6/6 lasted.

61

 

[Jamesrob637]

61

Voilà. Die Schweizer know how to keep good trains ticking.