The SOB ''Traverso'', designated RABe 526, is a passenger articulated trainset manufactured by

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams. It is also focused on niche products, such as being one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock ...

for

Südostbahn The Südostbahn (German, literally meaning "South-Eastern Railway") – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Swiss adhesion railway company, and a network in Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the original SOB wit ...

, a railway company in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is a derivative of the Stadler FLIRT and began entering service in 2019. Südostbahn employs the ''Traversos'' on long-distance routes such as the ''

Voralpen-Express The ''Voralpen-Express'' (''VAE'') is a named train connecting small to medium-sized cities and villages in Central and Eastern Switzerland, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated by Südostbahn (SOB) and runs every hour between St. Galle ...

'' and the ' services over the traditional

Gotthard railway The Gotthard railway (german: Gotthardbahn; it, Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between no ...

History

(SOB) ordered six eight-car trainsets from

in June 2016, as part of an order that also included five four-car trainsets for use on local services. Südostbahn ordered eleven more eight-car trainsets in December 2017 to operate two InterRegio routes, dubbed ', that would use the traditional route over the

. Under an agreement with

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

, SOB would assume the operation of these services with the December 2020 timetable change. With SOB and SBB having made a further agreement for the joint operation of the ' between and , SOB ordered seven more trainsets in December 2018. Altogether the three orders cost . As planned, the first ''Traversos'' began operation in December 2019 on the ''Voralpen-Express''. The trains were painted in a copper livery that according to SOB symbolized "the historical development of human society." The ''Treno Gottardo'' trains, operating from and

Zürich HB , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

to , commenced in December 2020. SOB began running ''Traversos'' on the ''Aare Linth'' in December 2021.

Design

Each formation is composed of eight cars, with a normal seating capacity of 359. Altogether the formation is long. Cars are wide and stand tall. The cars are designed for

low floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

boarding; doors are from the ground. ''Traversos'' have both first- and second-class seating, 68 of the former and 291 of the latter. There are also 21 seats that can fold out for additional capacity. Vending machines provide on-board catering.

References

External links

SOB-Flotte
{{in lang, de Stadler Rail multiple units Multiple units of Switzerland Train-related introductions in 2019 15 kV AC multiple units