The Talent is a

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 contr ...

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 drive ...

manufactured by Bombardier that was developed 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 ...

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name ''Talent'' is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

for ''TALbot LEichter Nahverkehrs-Triebwagen'' (in English, ''Talbot light suburban railcar''). It comes in a number of variants, including high-floor,

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.e ...

, diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic, diesel-electric, electric, and tilting, and in lengths of two, three, or four carriages. As with most multiple-unit trains, Talent units can run individually, or be coupled together to form longer trains.

Specifications

Classified as

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

according to UIC standards, the Talent is a two-, three- or four-part

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...

with

Jacobs bogie Jacobs bogies (named after Wilhelm Jakobs,, 1858–1942, a German mechanical railway engineer) are a type of rail vehicle bogie commonly found on articulated railcars and tramway vehicles. Instead of being underneath a piece of rolling stock, ...

s. Partially as a result of this, the interior of an entire unit is essentially a single, long cabin; it is possible to see or walk from end to end without opening doors or passing through narrower gangways. The sharing of bogies also means that a Talent unit cannot be easily disassembled or rearranged without the assistance of a railway yard. In those variants whose floor is above the rails, this means that the articulation floor is raised, but with ramp access, since it needs to be higher than the wheel diameter, above rail level. In the variants with floor height, the floor is flat from the first door to the last. The endsections have a raised floor in all variants, because the traction equipment installed underneath requires more space than unpowered bogies. The optional tilting system (called ContRoll) is unique: no swinging bolster is required between the bogie and the car body, but hydraulic cylinders, fitted between the anti roll bar system and the carbody, directly actuate the tilting.

Service

After a prototype was presented in 1994, the first Talents entered service in 1996. They are used by mainline railways 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 ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. More than 260 are in service worldwide. In a more unusual use, three diesel Talents identical to Deutsche Bahn's class 643 once formed the fleet for Ottawa's

O-Train The O-Train is a light metro transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system has two lines, the electrically-operated Confederation Line (Line 1) and the diesel-operated Trillium Line (Line 2). Since May 20 ...

Trillium Line The Trillium Line (french: Ligne Trillium), also called O-Train Line 2 (french: Ligne 2 de l'O-Train), is a diesel light rail transit (DLRT) service in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The line has been closed since May 2020 f ...

, a diesel light rail transit line running entirely within the City of Ottawa. The

shares a lightly used freight railway line. As the Talent is not certified for concurrent shared-track operation with freight trains in North America, freight traffic is not permitted on the Trillium Line's route while passenger services are running. Although it is still legally classified as a main-line railway, Transport Canada allow the O-Train Trillium Line to use One-Person Train Operation, with fares collected through a proof-of-payment system. In March 2015, all three Talent units were replaced by

Alstom Coradia LINT The Alstom Coradia LINT is an articulated railcar manufactured by Alstom since 1999, offered in diesel and hydrogen fuel models. The acronym ''LINT'' is short for the German ''"leichter innovativer Nahverkehrstriebwagen"'' (light innovative loca ...

diesel units. The Talent has now been superseded by the

Bombardier Talent 2 The Talent 2 is a multiple unit railcar manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. The train began production in 2008 and first entered service with Deutsche Bahn in 2011. Despite having the same name as the original Talent, designed by Wag ...

and Talent 3.

Operators

* Austria **

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 Class 4023, 4024, 4124 ***

Salzburg S-Bahn The Salzburg S-Bahn is a large transport project in and around Salzburg in the Euroregion of Salzburg–Berchtesgadener Land–Traunstein, which crosses the border between Austria and Germany. Its S-Bahn network has been partially in operation sin ...

***

Vienna S-Bahn The Vienna S-Bahn is a suburban commuter rail network in Vienna, Austria. As opposed to the city-run urban metro network, the Vienna U-Bahn, it extends beyond the borders of the city, is operated by the ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways), and cons ...

***

Tyrol S-Bahn The Tyrol S-Bahn provides regional rail services in metropolitan Innsbruck, Austria and its hinterlands in the state of Tyrol. At present, it is only a nominally an S-Bahn in that it only operates on the lines of the Austrian Federal Railways. Expa ...

*** Styria S-Bahn *** Vorarlberg S-Bahn *** Carinthia S-Bahn * Germany **

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

DB Class 643/943, 644/944 *** DB Regio Baden-Württemberg *** DB Regio NRW *** DB Regio Mitte ** Connex (

Veolia Verkehr Transdev Germany is the largest private operator of passenger buses and trains in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Transdev. History In 1997, Aktiengesellschaft für Industrie und Verkehrswesen was purchased by a CGEA Group (60%) EnBW (40%) cons ...

) *** Nord-Ostsee-Bahn *** NordWestBahn *** Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn *** Ostmecklenburgische Eisenbahn ***

Bayerische Oberlandbahn The Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH (BOB) is a private railway company based in Holzkirchen, Germany, and owned by Transdev Germany (formerly known as ''Veolia Verkehr''). Since June 2020 its services are operated under the brand Bayerische Regiob ...

eurobahn Eurobahn is a railway operator in Germany, established in 1998. It operates regional train services in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with cross-border services including Lower Saxony and the Netherlands. Initially a joint venture between K ...

(Rhenus Keolis) ** Regiobahn * Hungary **

Hungarian State Railways Hungarian State Railways ( hu, Magyar Államvasutak, MÁV) is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt." (passenger transport), "MÁV-Gépészet Zrt." (maintenance), "MÁV-Trakció Zrt." and "MÁV Cargo Zrt" (freig ...

MÁV Class 425 * Norway Saltfjellet

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

(see

NSB Class 93 Class 93 ( no, Type 93) is a tilting two-carriage diesel multiple unit used by SJ Norge for passenger trains on non-electrified stretches of the Norwegian railway network. Used on the Nordland Line, the Røros Line and the Rauma Line, they were ...

for details) ***

Nordland Line The Nordland Line ( no, Nordlandsbanen, ) is a railway line between Trondheim and Bodø, Norway. It is the longest in Norway and lacks electrification. The route runs through the counties of Trøndelag (formerly Sør-Trøndelag and Nord-Trønd ...

***

Rauma Line The Rauma Line ( no, Raumabanen) is a long railway between the town of Åndalsnes (in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county), and the village of Dombås (in Dovre Municipality in Oppland county), in Norway. Running down the Romsdalen vall ...

***

Røros Line The Røros Line ( no, Rørosbanen) is a railway line which runs through the districts of Hedmarken, Østerdalen and Gauldalen in Innlandet and Trøndelag, Norway. The line branches off from the Dovre Line at Hamar Station and runs a more easterl ...

* Romania ** Transferoviar Călători (ex-Regiobahn) * Slovakia **

RegioJet RegioJet a.s. ( VKM: RJ) is a private Czech provider of passenger rail and bus transport. The company Student Agency, owned by Czech businessman Radim Jančura, is the sole owner. A sister company of the same name, with its registered office in ...

(leased by

Alpha Trains Alpha Trains is a rolling stock leasing company operating in the European Union and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regions of mainland Europe. It was created as ''Angel Trains International'' as a spin-off from the British rolling stock ...

) *** Bratislava–Dunajská Streda–Komarno railway

Former operations

* Canada ** Ottawa O-Train,

References

External links