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The CargoSprinter is a
freight multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contro ...
designed to transport freight or equipment. The CargoSprinter was designed by Windhoff GmbH (Germany) in the mid-1990s. Initially seven vehicles were built for Deutsche Bahn. Four were built by
Windhoff Windhoff is a German manufacturer of specialised railways rolling stock, and heavy industrial plant. The company was founded in 1889. The company is well known for its CargoSprinter rail vehicle, and derivatives. History The company started ou ...
and had the reporting code ''DB class 690''. Another three closely similar units were built by
Waggonfabrik Talbot Waggonfabrik Talbot was a rolling stock manufacturer founded in Aachen, Germany, in 1838. The company was an early pioneer of self discharging freight wagons, and in the latter part of the twentieth century a major supplier to the Dutch State Rai ...
('Talbot Talion') and given the reporting code ''DB class 691''. The design did not lead to further freight work, several of the trains were later converted for other uses including tunnel rescue trains. A variant for infrastructure and service trains, named the ''Multi Purpose Vehicle'' has been sold to a number of countries, mainly for use by rail infrastructure companies, including the United Kingdom (
Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
; track maintenance and specialised overhead electrification train), Switzerland (specialised tunnel rescue and firefighting version), and the Netherlands and Taiwan (maintenance of high speed lines).


History and design

The CargoSprinter was developed in 1996 by Windhoff in association with freight operators
DB Cargo DB Cargo (previously known as Railion and DB Schenker Rail) is an international transport and logistics company. It is responsible for all of the rail freight transport activities of the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (the DB Group) bo ...
and Fraport. The concept was for a self powered container carrying freight train, with a relatively high top speed enabling it to operate without disrupting passenger services. * The train was a five-car permanently connected set of container-carrying vehicles (capacity ~10 TEU), with driving cab at each end (motorised with underfloor engines), and capable of being easily connected and worked in multiple with other CargoSprinter trains. The original designs were taken from concept stage to production in 12 months. The new concept was optimistically received as offering a step change in rail freight transportation, allowing rapid efficient transport of less than trainload and shortline freight, 7 vehicles were initially built (1997) for trials with Deutsche Bahn. In practice the CargoSprinter concept was not a success as a commercial freight vehicle, trials of the vehicles did not lead to regular work. Ex-freight trial vehicles later found use modified for specialised roles, such as tunnel rescue, and hybrid powered freight trains. The design was more successful as an infrastructure and services train: in 1998 Windhoff received a 57DM million order from
Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
(UK) for 25 trains derived from the CargoSprinter type, named ''Multi-purpose vehicles'' (MPVs), developed in association with AMEC Rail; the trains were to be used for infrastructure maintenance including rail deicing, and railhead treatment, 7 more sets were acquired in 2000. In 2002 the CargoSprinter train was used as the mechanical basis of the '' CargoMover'' automated freight wagon concept developed by Siemens. Other specialised designs based on the Windhoff MPV include a dedicated fire fighting and tunnel rescue trains (Switzerland; 2003, Austria; 2004), and railway overhead electrification factory trains for both wire renewal, and overhead line construction. (UK; 2000, 2011) MPV vehicles are also in use by rail infrastructure companies in Taiwan (2007–) and the Netherlands (2007–).


Build history and operators


Germany

Three units were constructed by Windhoff, and four by Talbot, with the first unit operational in 1997; both were broadly similar in design with the same operating characteristics, the Talbot built vehicles (branded ''Talion'') differed in having inner unpowered wagons articulated using
jacobs bogie Jacobs bogies (named after Wilhelm Jakobs,, 1858–1942, a German Mechanical engineering, mechanical Railway engineering, railway engineer) are a type of Rail transport, rail vehicle bogie commonly found on Articulated car, articulated railcars an ...
s. The CargoSprinter trains operated between the intermodal rail terminal ''Rail AirCargo Station'' at
Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
, Hamburg,
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
, and
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
and between 1997 and 1999, carrying two trains per day: the equivalent of 5,000 lorry loads per year. The service was initially successful with high reliability and full utilisation; work on the connecting railway line in the second year of operation disrupted the service, causing loss of custom leading to the termination of the service. Sources * * * From 2000 the units were out of service, one was used for the Siemens' CargoMover experimental freight vehicle which was displayed at Innotrans in 2002. The remaining vehicles were offered for sale in 2004, and acquired for use in Austria as tunnel rescue trains.


Technical description

Both variants of the design (DB 690 'CargoSprinter' and DB 691 'Talion') are five-car trains, with a control cabin at either end. The end cars are powered, with the inner axles individually driven by Volvo engines (6 cylinder, @ 2,050 rpm, emissions to Euro stage II standards). The transmission system uses a (5-speed) mechanical gearbox with clutch, torque converter, and retarder. Fuel capacity is 700l. All the traction equipment is located below the cargo floor level.Sources: *A Kückelmann (1997), "Entwicklung und Bau des CargoSprinters" *C. Dorn (1997), "Der CargoSprinter — ein Baustein für den irtschaftlichen Erfolg auf der Schiene" * * * The vehicles main frames are constructed from welded steel; there are two longitudinal support beams and several transverse members (example: Windhoff intermediate cars). The driving vehicle bogies have rubber primary suspension. The Windhoff unpowered vehicles use leaf spring primary suspension. the Talbot vehicles use rubber. All train axles have disc brakes. The vehicles are within the EBO G2 structure gauge. The end cabs have airconditioning, and are heated using waste heat from the diesel engine cooling system; the cabins are isolated from frame vibrations by an air-suspension system. The cab control systems use electronic multifunction display, and joystick control. The trains are permanently coupled whilst in service, and can work in multiple forming consists of up to (7 trains, 35 cars) – the inter-trainset coupling is via a
Z-AK The C-AKv is a fully automatic coupler design, also known as the Faiveley Transpact; it is a hybrid compatible with both buffers and chain couplers and Russian SA3 couplers, intended as an option for the long delayed EU transition to center b ...
type automatic coupler, which includes electrical connections for power and data. Both Windhoff and Talbot trains are operationally compatible; differences between the versions include the electronic control systems, minor differences in dimension, and the wheel arrangement. The three intermediate unpowered vehicles in the Windhoff CargoSprinter are two axle wagons, the Talbot intermediate unpowered cars use two axle jacobs articulation between the wagons, and two axle bogies on the end wagons.


Austria

Unused ex-DB 690 and DB 691 units were sold to the
Austrian Federal Railways Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
in 2004, and converted to tunnel rescue trains (ÖBB X690).


Australia

CRT Group CRT Group is an intermodal transport company in Australia. It was founded in 1954 as Colin Rees Transport, a taxi truck company in Sydney. In 1981 it became known as the CRT Group, and by the time of its acquisition by QR National in June 2005 ...
order CargoSprinter in 2001, and introduced the first CargoSprinter to Australia in 2002. The Australian CargoSprinters have similar technical characteristics as the original versions built for Deutsche Bahn: Push-pull operation, with 2 Volvo EU Tier II engines with 5 speed transmissions per powered end unit; a cargo capacity of 2 TEU per vehicle; all wheels disc braked; air suspended cabin with air conditioning; and the ability to work in multiple train-units; and a top speed of . Whilst CRT was acquired by
Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
the CargoSprinter was retained as part of a private company by CRT director Colin Rees. In 2004 Colin Rees announced that a more powerful version of the design was being developed, with double the capacity.


Netherlands

In 2000 independent Dutch railway company Shortlines announced that it had placed a 5DM million order for CargoSprinter trains with Windoff, to operate a freight train for
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
between Eindhoven and
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
. The use of CargoSprinters was cancelled due to time and cost issues relating to installing ATB safety system on the trains. In 2007 Windhoff acquired a contract to supply two MPV vehicles were supplied to
Infraspeed Infraspeed is the builder and infrastructure maintenance company of the HSL-Zuid high-speed line in the Netherlands. History Infraspeed BV was created in 1999 by a consortium of Fluor Infrastructure (part of Fluor Corporation), Siemens Nederland ( ...
for infrastructure work on the HSL Zuid in the Netherlands. The design is powered by engines, and has a top speed of .Source: * *


Norway

Jernbaneverket The Norwegian National Rail Administration ( no, Jernbaneverket) was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic ...
ordered 11 track and catenary maintenance vehicles in 2014, for delivery from 2016.


Switzerland

A fire-fighting train, the LRZ NT (''Lösch- und Rettungszug Neue Technologie'') was developed by Windhoff and partners (2003) for Swiss rail operators Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) for initial use on the
Lötschberg Base Tunnel , line = Lötschberg Line , location = Traversing the Bernese Alps in Switzerland , coordinates = – , system = BLS, SBB CFF FFS , status = , start = Frutigen, canton of Bern, , end = Raro ...
. Windhoff supplied the basic train technology, derived from their MPV design. SBB acquired a three vehicle two engined train, whilst BLS acquired a four-vehicle, three-engined train (both with one unpowered vehicle). The SBB trains comprise one fire fighting vehicle, one non-powered vehicle with the water/foam supply and breathable air supply, and a rescue vehicle with space for 60 people. The BLS train has an additional rescue vehicle. Both versions are powered by MTU 6H1800 R80 type engines of power.Sources: * * In 2009 an ex-DB CargoSprinter (DB 691-502) machine was used as part of a new train design, named ''RailXpress'' – the design used a remote control modified CargoSprinter control car at one end as a
control car A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartm ...
and for shunting on non-electrified lines. At the other end of the train an electric locomotive (such as SBB Re 420) was used for mainline work, operating trains of at up to . Sources: * * A related design for transportation of construction materials (gravel) also began operation in 2009, named ''Marti Express Shuttle''; the trains consist of a converted ex-DB (Talbot) driving vehicle, 8 intermediate four axle wagons, and an electric locomotive – the train has a carrying capacity of up to . In 2012 SBB ordered 2 additional LRZs for the
Gotthard Base Tunnel , rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard , image = 20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Turnout at Faido multifunction station , line = Gotthard Line , location = Switzerland ( Uri, Grisons and ...
from a
Windhoff Windhoff is a German manufacturer of specialised railways rolling stock, and heavy industrial plant. The company was founded in 1889. The company is well known for its CargoSprinter rail vehicle, and derivatives. History The company started ou ...
/ Dräger consortium. In 2015 SBB ordered 35 track maintenance vehicles for delivery from 2017 to 2021. In 2016 SBB ordered 3 additional LRZs from a
Windhoff Windhoff is a German manufacturer of specialised railways rolling stock, and heavy industrial plant. The company was founded in 1889. The company is well known for its CargoSprinter rail vehicle, and derivatives. History The company started ou ...
/ Dräger consortium, for the CEVA line,
Ceneri Base Tunnel The Ceneri Base Tunnel (CBT, it, Galleria di base del Monte Ceneri) is a Swiss railway base tunnel in the canton of Ticino. It passes under Monte Ceneri between Camorino in the Magadino Flat and Vezia near Lugano; it bypasses the former h ...
, and the Lötschberg and
Simplon Tunnel , it, Galleria del Sempione , line = Simplon line, (Lötschberg railway line) , location = Traversing the Lepontine Alps between Switzerland and Italy , coordinates = – , system = Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF  ...
s.


Taiwan

In 2007/8 Windhoff manufactured and supplied six MPV derived trains for infrastructure maintenance work on the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pri ...
line.Sources: * *


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, infrastructure operator
Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
ordered 25 two-car units in 1998.Sources: * * The first 25 trainsets had only one driving car powered. An additional order for 7 more trainsets was placed in 2000 – these units had both end cars powered giving a top speed of . The vehicles are used for weedkilling, de-icing, and water-jetting and sandite treatment of the railhead. The MPV vehicles have also been proposed for use in revenue earning freight train services; ISO container transportation using a MPV power cars and conventional container wagons was experimentally trialled in 2000; containers were transported from the
Port of Southampton The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...
to terminals in Birmingham and Barking. and technically successful trials with a two MPV power cars and 7 OTA two-axle timber wagons were carried out in 2005. Two factory train for renewing overhead line equipment on the West Coast Mainline was ordered in 1999, and delivered in 2000. Each train-consist was made up of five separable autonomous units (four of which were single-ended MPVs); the entire train is fitted for multiple working allowing self powered transportation to a work site. In operation the train-consist splits into five sub-trains: the first unit is used to dismantle and recover previously installed wire; the second unit replaces catenary support wires ("droppers"), the third and fourth units install new wire and droppers, and the fifth unit is used for quality control – measuring and recording the new installation. To allow slow speed control the MPVs were fitted with
hydrostatic Fluid statics or hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies the condition of the equilibrium of a floating body and submerged body "fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and the pressure in a fluid, or exerted by a fluid, on an imme ...
drives. A Windhoff MPV was also used as the basis of a piling train – used to install catenary masts. The piling train including MPV mounted piling hammers (Fambo AB), and installation cranes (Hap, Palfinger).Sources: * * * In 2011 a specialised factory train for overhead line installation was ordered – the initial use of the train was expected to be the electrification of the Great Western Main Line (c.2013). The train, named the 'High Output Plant System' train was completed by late 2013. The entire train consisted of a 23 vehicles designed to be split into five separate working sections: two piling sets, one with a vibrating piler, the other with a percussion piler; a concrete mixing set; a structure erection set; and a catenary installation set. In 2016,
NI Railways NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ( ga, Iarnród Thuaisceart Éireann); and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink (Northern Ire ...
had an MPV delivered to undertake
sandite Sandite is a substance used on railways in the UK, Ireland, US, the Netherlands and Belgium to combat leaves on the line, which can cause train wheels to slip and become damaged with flat spots. Sandite consists of a mixture of sand, antif ...
duties.


See also

*
M250 series The , branded "Super Rail Cargo", is a freight electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Japan Freight Railway (JR Freight) in Japan. It entered service in 2004 with the objective of reducing emissions and carrying general freight for ...
, high speed electric multiple unit for containerised freight (Japan)


References


Literature

* * **''also'' * * *


External links

* *, images of INFRASPEED MPVs (Netherlands) {{German DMUs Non-passenger multiple units