RegioSprinter

RegioSprinter

Quantity	DKB/Rurtalbahn: 17 Vogtlandbahn: 18 Nærumbanen: 4
Manufacturer	Siemens AG/DUEWAG
Year(s) of manufacture	1995–1999
Axle arrangement	A+2+A
Gauge	1,435 mm
Length over couplers	24,800 mm
Height	3,350 mm
Service weight	49.2 t
Top speed	120 km/h
Installed power	Rurtalbahn: 2×198 kW Nærumbanen: 2×228 kW
Acceleration	1.1 m/s²
Motor make/model	2× MAN D2865 LUH05
Brakes	electromagnetic rail brake retarder
Parking brake	spring-loaded brake
Seats	74
Standing places	84

The RegioSprinter is a German diesel railcar built by Siemens-Duewag for rapid regional railway services. Originally the RegioSprinter was designated as a Regional Combustion-engined Railbus (Regional-Verbrennungstriebwagen or RVT) by Duewag AG.

Developed as prototypes for fast regional railway services on the plains, the RegioSprinter still has the fastest acceleration of any multiple unit or railbus in Germany. Due to several technical and conceptual defect, however, only very few were built. Based on their experience with the Regiosprinter Siemens developed its successor, the Desiro, which was initially marketed as the Regiosprinter 2.

In 1999, all the Vogtlandbahn vehicles were converted to meet tramway regulations (BO Strab), in order to be able to transfer to a tram line in the centre of Zwickau.

Design

The vehicles are designed with three sections. In the two, single-axled end modules are the driver's cabs and the drive units like those on trams. In the middle is a twin-axled, unmotored module.

Two thirds of the vehicle has a low floor. The seats are arranged in a 2+3 configuration, there is no toilet due to the short journey distances envisaged. Late the Vogtlandbahn had to fit all its vehicles with toilets, because otherwise cross-border services to the Czech Republic would not have been possible.

Operations

A Rurtalbahn railbus ready to depart at Düren Hbf

Rurtalbahn

In 1995 the Dürener Kreisbahn bought a total of 17 RegioSprinter for the Rurtalbahn (Rur Valley Railway), which were deployed to the two sections of line radiating from Düren, replacing the Uerdingen railbuses. Today (as at 2006), RegioSprinter are used on the following lines:

Southern Rurtalbahn: Düren – Heimbach
Northern Rurtalbahn: Düren – Jülich – Linnich (from Jülich part of the Jülich–Dalheim railway)
Börde railway: Düren – Zülpich – Euskirchen (exclusively tourist traffic at weekends)

Under contract to DB Regio NRW there is also a railbus in service on the RB 39 route (Schwalm-Nette-Bahn) between Mönchengladbach Hbf and Dalheim.

Because the vehicle fleet of the Rur Valley railway has a large reserve, in past years RegioSprinters from this company have helped out on other private railways, for example on the Dortmund-Märkischen Eisenbahn, the Nord-Ostsee-Bahn and the VIAS.

Vogtlandbahn

VBG in Zwotental

From 1996 the Vogtlandbahn bought a total of 18 vehicles for use on the lines from Zwickau to Adorf/Vogtl. and Reichenbach im Vogtl. to Klingenthal. Because the completion of these routes was repeatedly delayed after their refurbishment, the new vehicles initially worked the line from Zwickau to Bad Brambach. At present the railbuses are in services on the following Vogtlandbahn lines:

VB 1 Zwickau Zentrum – Zwickau (Sachs) Hbf – Falkenstein/Vogtl. – Zwotental – Klingenthal – Kraslice (– Karlovy Vary dolní n.) (KBS 539)
VB 2 Zwickau (Sachs) Hbf – Reichenbach (Vogtl) ob Bf – Herlasgrün – Plauen (Vogtl) ob Bf – Adorf/Vogtl. (KBS 544)
VB 5 Hof – Schönberg/Vogtl. – Mehltheuer – Plauen (Vogtl) ob Bf – Herlasgrün – Falkenstein/Vogtl. – Zwotental – Adorf (Vogtl)

Until the timetable change in December 2006 the Vogtlandbahn's RegioSprinters were also on duty on the VB 7 line between Schönberg/Vogtland and Schleiz West. Services on this route were withdrawn on 9 December 2006 by the local public transport company of the free state of Thuringia.

Moreover, in 2006 two of the railbuses (VT 36 and VT 39) were hired to the Prignitz railway, which used them on their lines in the western Ruhrgebiet due to a shortage of stock.

Nærumbanen (Denmark)

A RegioSprinter of the Nærumbanen

In 1999 the Nærumbanen (LNJ) in the Copenhagen area bought four RegioSprinter railbuses and deployed them on the line between Nærum and Jægersborg.

Since 2002 operations have been run by Lokalbanen A/S (LB), which took over several smaller railway companies in the Copenhagen area. The railbuses were owned at the time by the Hovedstadens Lokalbaner, which hired them to the LB.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RegioSprinter.

Photo gallery at Paul-Zimmer.de
Photo gallery on the European Railway Server
Reisebericht: Cross-border railway experiences in the Vogtland
There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany

Classes of German DMUs

BR number	601 602 605 608 610 611 612 612 alt 613 613 alt 614 618 624 627 628 629 633 634 636 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 648 650 660 670 672 675 690 691 692 699 771 772 795 796 797 798

Pre-1968 classes	VT 04.0 VT 04.1 VT 04.5 VT 06 VT 07.5 VT 08.5 VT 10.5 VT 11.5 VT 12.5 VT 23.5 VT 24 VT 25.5 VT 30 VT 32 VT 33 VT 36.5 VT 38 VT 45.5 VT 46.5 VT 50 VT 51 VT 60.5 VT 62 VT 63 VT 66 VT 69 VT 70 VT 72 VT 75 VT 78 VT 79 VT 86 VT 88 VT 89 VT 90.5 VT 92.5 VT 95 VT 97 VT 98

Old DRG numbers	VT 7 VT 10 VT 20 VT 133 VT 135 VT 137 SVT 137 VT 814 VT 815 SVT 877

DR in the GDR	171 172 173 175 181 183 184 185 186 187 188 VT 2.09 VT 4.12 VT 12.14 VT 18.16

Special trains	Flying Hamburger ICE TD Integral TEE

Diesel railbuses	Esslingen railbus MAN railbus Uerdingen railbus Wismar railbus RegioSprinter

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