Siemens Viaggio Comfort is a brand of locomotive-hauled railroad
passenger cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
built by
Siemens Mobility
Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...
. The car was designed in the early 2000s and was based on the earlier Siemens Viaggio Classic railcars. The railcars were first used in 2008 on
Railjet
Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). Branded as ''Railjet Express (RJX)'' for the fastest services and as ''Railjet (RJ)'' for services with additional stops, it w ...
, a
high-speed rail service in Europe operated by 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: ...
(ÖBB) and
Czech Railways (ČD).
History
Siemens first produced the Viaggio Comfort railcars in response to a request by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) for locomotive-hauled
push-pull trainsets for its upcoming
Railjet
Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). Branded as ''Railjet Express (RJX)'' for the fastest services and as ''Railjet (RJ)'' for services with additional stops, it w ...
high-speed rail service. Typically,
high-speed rail services use
electric multiple units, but ÖBB had recently purchased a fleet of Siemens
EuroSprinter
The EuroSprinter family of electric locomotives is a modular concept of locomotives for the European market built by Siemens Mobility. The internal Siemens product name is ES 64, with ES for EuroSprinter and the number 64 indicating the 6,400  ...
electric locomotives that it wanted to continue to use. After a bidding process, it was announced in February 2006 that the Siemens Viaggio Comfort was the best design as well as the least expensive.
The initial February 2006 order was for 23 sets of 7-coach trains, which was followed by a second order by ÖBB for 44 more sets in September 2007. The total value of the order was €798 million for 469 passenger carriages.
The
industrial design company Spirit Design was contracted to provide an exterior and interior design. The shape of the forward end of the
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 ...
(also known as a cab car or driving trailer) was derived from the design of the Siemens EuroSprinter locomotives that the trainsets would be paired with.
[ÖBB railjet : Eine neue Fahrzeuggeneration für die ÖB, Slide 8] The trainsets were built at the Siemens factory in
Maribor, Slovenia
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava stat ...
, and the first unit was completed on 15 September 2008, and put on display in several locations including the
InnoTrans trade fair before beginning test runs in late 2008. The first Railjet commercial service started on 14 December 2008.
Between September 2011 and May 2012,
Czech Railways (ČD) negotiated to have seven of the trainsets ordered by ÖBB transferred to it, for use on its high-speed rail service which would also be called Railjet. The Viaggio Comfort railcars went into service with ČD on 15 June 2014.
In July 2018 the Czech Railways ordered 10 5-car trainsets from the Siemens Mobility and
Škoda Transportation
Škoda Transportation a.s. is a Czech engineering company that continues the legacy of Škoda Works' rolling stock manufacturing that started at the end of 19th century in Plzeň. Following the first world war, the Works commenced locomotive p ...
consortium. The units operate on domestic lines between
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
and
Cheb
Cheb (; german: Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře.
Before the 1945 expulsion of the German-speaking population, the town was the centre of the German-s ...
via
Pilsen or
Ústí nad Labem
Ústí nad Labem (, , ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of its eponymous region and district. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway ju ...
. These units have decreased maximum speed of as they do not feature the control car as part of the car formation. They are branded as InterJet. The commercial service started on 12 December 2021.
In April 2021 the Czech Railways ordered another 20 9-car trainsets from the Siemens Mobility and Škoda Transportation consortium. The units will be operated on international services from Prague to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
,
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. The shape of the forward end of the control car will be derived from the design of the
Siemens Vectron locomotives. The total value of the order is 12.5 billion CZK (approximately €490 million) for 180 passenger carriages.
Trainsets
Most Siemens Viaggio Comfort railcars are configured into semi-permanently coupled trainsets with
open gangway
A gangway connection (or, more loosely, a corridor connection) is a flexible connector fitted to the end of a railway coach, enabling passengers to move from one coach to another without danger of falling from the train.
Origins: Coaches in Br ...
-style connections between cars but with standard couplers on the outer ends of the trainset for connecting the trainset to locomotives or other railway equipment.
Railjet trainsets
A Railjet trainset consists of seven individual coaches: four coaches with economy seating, one coach with a restaurant and a first class seating section, one coach with first class seating, and a control car with a first class seating section and a business class seating section (the most premium class).
The trainsets were manufactured by Siemens in
Maribor, Slovenia
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava stat ...
, with final assembly being completed by ÖBB's technical services department in
Simmering, Vienna.
The passenger cars are equipped with electro-pneumatic disc brakes (3 per axle in SF400 bogies
[Marl, Pettauer, railjet, Slides 29-33]), as well as electromagnetic track brakes (
eddy current brakes), and a parking brake. The driving trailer also has a manually operated brake using the disc brakes.
[Szécsey István, Bemutatjuk az ÖBB RailJet nagysebességű vonatát (2. rész), ''section:'' 2.12 to 2.12.6] Primary bogie suspension is by coil spring, and secondary suspension is pneumatic.
Brake equipment is supplied by
Knorr-Bremse
Knorr-Bremse AG is a German manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated in the field for over 110 years. Other products in Group's portfolio include intelligent door systems, control components, air c ...
, air-conditioning by
Liebherr
Liebherr is a German-Swiss multinational equipment manufacturer based in Bulle, Switzerland, with its main production facilities and origins in Germany.
Liebherr consists of over 130 companies organized into 11 divisions: earthmoving, mining, ...
, and doors, carriage connections, toilets and seats are manufactured by other subcontractors.
[Stefan Wehinger, railjet to take off next year, ''section:'' "Construction"]
Derived Types
Siemens Venture
The Siemens Venture is based on the earlier Siemens Viaggio Comfort railcars in use in Europe, but adapted for the North American market. The cars entered service with
Brightline
Brightline (reporting mark BLFX) is an inter-city rail route between Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida that runs on track owned by Florida East Coast Railway.
Brightline is the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad ...
in 2018. Railcars are currently on order for the US states of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, and
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
for use on their state-supported corridors operated by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
and Canada's
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
for use on its
Québec City–Windsor Corridor. They are being built in Siemens' Mobility North American factory in Florin California.
Gallery
File:ÖBB Railjet 1116-236 on Krauselklause-Viaduct.jpg, ÖBB Railjet passing over the Krauselklause viaduct on the Semmering railway
File:CD-RJ als EC 73.jpg, ČD Railjet on its way to Vienna
References
External links
Siemens Viaggio passenger coach product websiteSiemens Viaggio Comfort fact sheet
{{Rolling stock of Austria
Austrian Federal Railways
Rolling stock of Austria
Siemens rolling stock