The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn BDSeh 4/8 is a four member class of
metre gauge electric multiple units operated by the
Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn is a narrow gauge railway line and a railway company (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG, MGB) in Switzerland. The track width is . It was created in 2003 through an amalgamation of Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) and BVZ Zermatt- ...
(MGB), in the
Canton of
Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...
,
Switzerland. They have partially panoramic, articulated bodies, and were the first new items of powered rolling stock to be placed into service by the MGB.
Since entering the MGB fleet, the BDSeh 4/8 multiple units have been used to operate the Zermatt shuttle trains. These trains link
Zermatt railway station
Zermatt railway station is a metre gauge railway station serving the car-free mountaineering and ski resort of Zermatt, in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the southern terminus of the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ), which connects Zermatt with ...
, which serves the
car-free mountaineering and
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
of
Zermatt
Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...
, with
Täsch railway station, where there is a large parking station for people travelling to or from Zermatt by road vehicle.
Technical details
The BDSeh 4/8 class is part of the
Stadler GTW
The Stadler GTW is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen (articulated railcar).
History
The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near Bern, Switzerland was looking for a light ...
family of multiple units. It has an aluminium frame.
Each member of the class is made up of three articulated units. The central unit is a panorama car, and houses the four traction motors. Attached to each end of the central unit is 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 ...
unit. The two outlying units have low floor entrances, to facilitate the transport of
baggage cart
Baggage carts, luggage carts, luggage trolleys or trolleys are small vehicles pushed by travelers ( human-powered) to carry individual luggage, mostly suitcases. There are two major sizes: One for big luggage and one for small luggage. Carts h ...
s, 40 of which can be loaded into the whole three unit train.
The BDSeh 4/8 class vehicles are all equipped with Schwab type automatic couplings. These couplings can be used to join two members of the class, and thereby make up a six unit train, thus adjusting capacity to meet changes in demand.
The interiors of the vehicles are fitted with air conditioning and information display screens.
References
*
*
External links
Matterhorn Gotthard BahnStadler Rail
''This article is based upon a translation of the
German language version as at August 2010. The original authors can be see
here''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn Bdseh 4 8
Stadler Rail multiple units
Multiple units of Switzerland
Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn multiple units