Caravelle (railway)

An X 4750 in the Saint-Dié train station , behind it on the left a modernized Caravelle with a modified front, 1991

The Caravelle is a type of two or three-part diesel multiple units operated by the French state railway SNCF . The name is based on their engine noise, which is reminiscent of the Caravelle aircraft .

The Caravelles include the X 4300 , X 4500 , X 4630 , X 4750 and X 4900 series . Related to them are the diesel power units of the four-part Turbotrains ETG , which technically correspond to the type X 4500 railcars.

In February 1963 the first Caravelles were delivered with the X 4500. The last vehicles built were the X 4790 to X 4797 from 1981. From the mid-1980s onwards, numerous Caravelles were converted and received among others. a. a changed front design.

In 2016, the last SNCF Caravelles were parked with the three-part X 4900 series. Numerous Caravelles were sold to Romania , where they are run by the Regiotrans and Via Terra railway companies . Further copies are used in several French museum railways in tourist traffic.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas Estler: Locomotives of the French state railway SNCF . 1st edition. Transpress, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-613-71480-9 , pp. 124 f .