Low-floor car (Switzerland, narrow gauge)

Low-floor wagons are railway wagons whose floor is so low that entry is practically at ground level. For the Swiss narrow-gauge railways , the platform height is now standardized at 35–37 cm, so that the floor of low-floor wagons can be 35–42 cm above the top of the rails. The article gives an overview of the previously-built vehicle types in low-floor technology .

Stadler luggage trolley

The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) started a shuttle service from Täsch to Zermatt in 1972, which was handled by shuttle trains from 1975 onwards . The target group for this traffic, motorists who cannot drive to their final destination because of the driving ban on the Täsch – Zermatt road, has different ideas and methods of transporting the items necessary for the vacation than train drivers. In the search for solutions to remain competitive in this regard, sliding-wall wagons were carried on the shuttle trains from December 1983 , which allowed luggage trolleys to be loaded directly via a ramp . This solution was not entirely happy with regard to door locking. That is why the BVZ worked with Stadler to develop a luggage trolley whose middle section was lowered so that it was possible to enter this low-floor section through wide doors from the platform. The seats above the bogies faced the middle of the train so that every passenger could monitor their luggage.

The wagons are constructed in a steel / aluminum mixed construction and run on modernized SWS bogies of wooden box wagons. Up to 1990 a total of 6 cars, half of them control cars, were built (2231–2233, 2235–2237). Since the delivery of four multiple units ( BDSeh 4/8 2051–54 ) for this traffic, three wagons have been used as a reserve, the other three have been adapted as bicycle transport wagons for Goms.

In 2014, the three control cars were adapted by Stadler for operation with the KOMET multiple units (2011–14, 2021–28, 2051–54, 2131–34) and are used for transporting luggage and bicycles and as a reserve for the shuttle trains Täsch – Zermatt used. The three intermediate cars 2235–37 operate as bicycle cars in Goms.

The BDk 2236 and 2237 had an accident on September 1, 2016, when a shunting composition escaped in Andermatt train station and derailed in a tunnel in the Schöllenen Gorge. The BDk 2237 was transferred to Landquart for repair on October 11, 2016 , the BDk 2236 suffered a total write-off.

Stadler low-floor control car

RhB BDt 1751 at the head of a regional Scuol – Pontresina train

Shuttle train on the Yverdon – Ste-Croix route with a Be 4/4 1 and a Bt 55 low-floor control car

Composition of the WSB with low-floor control cars ABt and Be 4/4

For the new operating concept of the Rhaetian Railway after the opening of the Vereina tunnel, it was planned to introduce shuttle trains from Landquart - Scuol - Pontresina. Since the control car had to be newly procured anyway ( EW I cars are used as intermediate cars ), it should have a low-floor entry, but a toilet was dispensed with. The passenger car has many structural elements in common with the Bernina Express panorama car . Eight vehicles (BDt 1751–1758) were put into operation in 1999, one of which was fitted with compressed air braking equipment to serve as a reserve control vehicle for the Vereina car transporter.

In order to be able to offer all basic compositions with low-floor entry, TRAVYS purchased a Bt 55 control car for the Be 4/4 1–2 from Stadler for the Yverdon – Ste-Croix route (2007). In principle, it corresponds to an end section of the GTW , but is longer - and of course has two bogies.

The 12 Be 4/4 15–27 (without 18, burned out) of the Wynental and Suhrental Railway (WSB), which went into operation from 1978–1979 , ran until 2009 with control cars from the years 1965–1966. In order to replace these and so that a low-floor entry can be offered on all trains, 11 ABt 51-61 were ordered from Stadler. The new control cars were delivered and put into operation in 2009. The bogies come from the replaced control cars 71–85. The aluminum profile control cars have a low-floor section with two entrances in the middle and have 13 1st class seats, 39 2nd class seats and 70 standing places.

RJ low-floor control car

MOB ABt 343-Be 4/4 5003-Bt 243

ABT 122 in St. Gallen

The Montreux-Berner-Oberland-Bahn (MOB) wanted to modernize its regional commuter trains from 1976/79 by placing the multiple unit without a driver's cab in the middle of the train and coupling a low-floor control car on both sides. The choice for the construction of the car body fell on RJ rail technology , this is placed on existing or self-built SIG torsion bar bogies. The Appenzeller Bahnen (AB) joined the order with three shortened wagons, with SIG-90 bogies, for their cogwheel route St. Gallen - Gais - Appenzell. Were put into operation

• 2004 2 MOB cars Bt 243 and ABt 343 for the Be 4/4 5003
• 2004 3 AB wagons ABt 121–123
• 2006 2 MOB cars type Bt 244 and ABt 344 for the Be 4/4 5004

On March 27, 2006, bankruptcy was opened for RJ rail technology and on February 12, 2007 the company was deleted from the commercial register. On May 10, 2006 the company Raility AG was founded at the same domicile . This continues the business activity of RJ rail technology.

After RJ Bahnechnik went bankrupt, AB decided not to order another control car. On the other hand, the remaining 4 MOB control cars were produced by Raility; the last ones went into operation in 2009. However, the air-sprung Alstom bogies of the Centro 1000 type were put under. This means that there are now 11 cars of this design.

Raility low-floor panorama car

Low-floor wagon Bs 231 MOB

In order to make their trains more accessible for people with reduced mobility, the MOB put out a tender for the delivery of 8 low-floor cars. These were to be used in the Panoramic trains, but could also be lined up as intermediate cars in the ABDe 8/8 4001–4004. The MOB awarded the contract for the car body to Raility, the air-sprung bogies come from Alstom and are of the Centro 1000 type. The Bs 231-238 were put into operation from 2010, but they were not classified in ABDe 8/8. Cars 231 to 234 are intended for conversion with EV18 lane change bogies for the Golden Pass Express .

Stadler low-floor articulated control car

Constructively based on GTW and Spatz , Stadler also built 8 articulated control cars for the Berner-Oberland-Bahn (ABt 8 421-425), in 2017 another 3 articulated control cars (ABt 431-433) were delivered with the front similar to the ABDeh 8 multiple units / 8 and the Zentralbahn (ABt 8 941–943). Although the design is very similar, the optics of the vehicles are very different. One reason are the narrow, round driver's cabs, which were also installed in the "Spatzen". The company also had windows installed up to the edge of the roof, for example in the low-floor section, and installed air conditioning.

The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn ordered with the second delivery from Komet and four articulated vehicles (6 ABt 2131-34) for use with this drive trains. Their design corresponds as closely as possible to that of the multiple units. They consist of two car bodies. The one with a driver's cab only has 1st carriage class and a bogie; it is based on the second car body with 2nd car class, toilet and two bogies.

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  BOB ABt 8 421 in winter season use with older rolling stock

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  During the closure of the route to Grindelwald due to bad weather, the articulated control cars were used in pairs on the line to Lauterbrunnen.

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  New articulated control car of the 2nd generation (2017) in Zweilütschinen.

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  Zentralbahn ABt 8 941 in front of Spatz ABe 130 007 in Stansstad shortly after delivery

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  Two-part articulated control car ABt 6 2134 of the MGB in front of a comet ABDeh 4/8

Stadler intermediate car

Low-floor car B 4211, MGB

Intermediate car of the RBS Be 4/8 41–61

The regional traffic Bern-Solothurn procured 16 intermediate cars for the existing 21 multiple units Mandarinili , which were delivered 2001-2002. Operationally, these are not wagons, but part of a multiple unit . But their building history, their internal designation as B 41–56 and the structural features contradict this, which is why they are mentioned here for the sake of completeness. Five identical cars went to the Lugano-Ponte-Tresa-Bahn (FLP) for their Be 4/8 21-25, which they had procured together with the RBS. In 2010, MBC received three low-floor intermediate cars 2065-2067 from Stadler, which will be added to the previous shuttle trains. In the longer term, however, they should also be able to operate with new railcars and control cars.

For the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn , Stadler built eleven air-conditioned low-floor cars B 4211 to 4221 in 2013, which are used to make the regional trains wheelchair accessible. The new cars can be recognized by their white paintwork with winter sports motifs.

Conversions

MVR Bt 224 in front of Beh 2/4 71 and 72 in Blonay

MVR Bt 224 in the Pléiades mountain station

The Transports Montreux-Vevey-Riviera had the remains of the burnt-out Bt 224 on the Vevey - Les Pléiades line (converted) into a low-floor control car at RJ Bahnechnik. At the same time, the car body of the BDeh 2/4 71 was adapted and the front driver's cab expanded. A bellows secures the transition between the vehicles.

Low-floor tram cars

The converted B 1463 with a low entrance in the middle

In the trams, the trend is increasingly towards low-floor articulated multiple units. Only a few companies still use non-motorized trailers . The four-axle motor vehicles 477-502 were still procured in Basel from 1986 to 1987 . While the similar articulated wagons 659-686 procured from 1990–1991 were supplemented with a low-floor center section eight years later, older four-axle standard trailers from the years 1967–1972 were converted for the four-axle vehicles from 1997 onwards. They received a low-floor entrance in the middle, as well as air conditioning .

• 1997: 1492
• 1998: 1476, 1477, 1481, 1485, 1491, 1496
• 1999: 1479, 1480, 1484, 1487, 1488, 1489, 1490, 1493, 1497, 1502, 1503, 1505
• 2000: 1456, 1466, 1470, 1472, 1473, 1475, 1486, 1494, 1495, 1501
• 2001: 1444, 1470, 1486
• 2002: 1449
• 2003: 1463, 1464
• 2004: 1506

literature

• Tribolet Hans: New multi-purpose wagons for suburban traffic Täsch-Zermatt of the Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 5/1986. Minirex, Lucerne 1986, pages 175-179.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fabian Scheeder, Walter von Andrian: Almost catastrophe in the Schöllenen . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 10 . Minirex, 2016, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 490-491 .
2. ↑ Fabian Scheeder: MGB accident vehicle to Landquart . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 12 . Minirex, 2016, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 597 .
3. ↑ Profile Bt 55 on the Travys website
4. ↑ ABt profile on the Stadler Rail website ( Memento from June 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 472 kB)
5. ↑ NF-ABt narrow-gauge articulated control car for the Bernese Oberland Railway. Datasheet from Stadler Rail Bussnang, on reference archive . Stadler Rail website, accessed June 30, 2018
6. ↑ New rolling stock for the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn - new trains and wagons ordered from Stadler Rail. Bahnonline.ch, December 23, 2011, accessed on October 25, 2018 .