The Class 430

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

is an electric

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...

for

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

commuter networks in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, jointly developed by Bombardier and Alstom. The first trains went into service in 2012, replacing the Class 420 EMUs of the Stuttgart S-Bahn.

Deployment

Stuttgart

In February 2009 it was announced that the 90 remaining Class 420 EMUs would be replaced by 83 newly developed Class 430 EMUs. This would be the first use of Class 430s in Germany. In May 2009, DB Regio ordered 83 trains, which are expected to be delivered between February and December 2012. DB has an option to order another 83 units. In December 2010, the option was increased from 83 to 166 units for the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (see below). In October 2011, the Transport Committee of the Stuttgart Region decided to order 4 more Class 430s to cover additional services.

Rhine-Ruhr

In December 2009, the

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (), abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers most of the Ruhr area, as well as neighbouring parts of the Lower Rhine region, includ ...

announced that the Class 430 would be used, with deliveries to be completed by the end of 2012. This would give 116 vehicles total of both Class 422 and Class 430. In April 2011, it was announced that orders for additional vehicles had been canceled, due to the upcoming tender of lines S5 and S8. On those lines, the existing locomotive-hauled trains will be replaced by Class 422, rather than Class 430.

Rhine-Main

In November 2011, the

Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) is a transport association that covers the public transport network of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area in Germany. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus. Organisation and area covered The RMV ...

announced that after the successful tender of the S-Bahn network, Class 430 would replace the current Class 420 at the 2014/2015 timetable change. This is part of the contract between the Verkehrsverbund and DB. In December 2011, DB and Bombardier announced that DB had ordered 90 vehicles. In early 2014, these trains will be used for testing and training purposes in the

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

area.

Technology and equipment

The walk-through multiple units of Class 430 are similar to those of the Class 422. They have an

air-conditioned Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

passenger area, and have gap bridging to prevent entry and exit accidents. The vehicles for Stuttgart are equipped with 16

surveillance cameras Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly tr ...

per train, glass shelves, and LED lighting. They offer eight screens in each train which only display information about the next station. If the supporting data is available, by 2013 they will also be able to display information about connections. The Class 430 has lower noise at startup than the Class 423 used in Stuttgart. It also has less energy consumption than the Class 420. Each train will have a length of - longer than the Class 423, but shorter than the Class 422. The cab meets the EN 15227 standard (requirements for

crashworthiness Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Depending on the nature of the impact and the vehicle involved, different crit ...

for railway vehicle bodies) and is therefore longer than that of the corresponding Class 423. The Class 430 is shorter than the class 422 because in the middle car, a single row of seats replaced a double row, allowing the car to be shorter. This was required because trains must fit alongside a

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

; with three units coupled together, the Class 430 will have a length of . The trains have magnetic

track brake A magnetic track brake (Mg brake) is a brake for rail vehicles. It consists of brake magnets, pole shoes, a suspension, a power transmission and, in the case of mainline railroads, a track rod. When current flows through the magnet coil, the ma ...

s. The driver has two options for controlling the doors: first, the driver can unlock the doors on the platform side, and the

passengers A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. Th ...

open the doors themselves with a pushbutton (as in the Class 423); second, the driver can unlock and open all of the doors on the platform side at once. The trains have more opening

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...

s than the class 423, and larger information displays in the vestibules, similar to those on the Class 425. The information displays on the outside of the train are twice as big. The

seats A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair eq ...

are in the standard DB colors, but with

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

headrest Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a collision — to prevent or ...

s. The seatbacks are ergonomically shaped and padded.

Production

The first trains will be made by the consortium of Alstom in

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...

and Bombardier in Hennigsdorf. , there are 29 trains being built in

, and 54 more will be produced at Bombardier in Aachen. Nine vehicles will be intensively tested over .

References

* {{German EMUs

430 __NOTOC__ Year 430 ( CDXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus (or, less frequently, yea ...

Articulated passenger trains 15 kV AC multiple units Alstom multiple units Bombardier Transportation multiple units