The ED72 (manufacturer's designation: Pafawag 5Bs/6Bs) is a Polish four-car, long distance

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 ...

operated by Przewozy Regionalne (Polregio). Like its cousin ( EN71), the ED72 is based on the

EN57 EN57 (manufacturer's designation: Pafawag 5B/6B) is an electric multiple unit used by the Polish railway operator ('' PKP''). It was built for suburban and long-distance services. Presently it is used by Przewozy Regionalne (Polregio), Łódzka Ko ...

and became the basis for its successor: the ED73.

History

Between 1993 and 1997, a mere 21 units were built by

Pafawag Pafawag (Państwowa Fabryka Wagonów) (English: National Rail Carriage Factory) is a Polish locomotive manufacturer based in Wrocław. The company became part of Adtranz in 1997 as Adtranz Pafawag, and in 2001 part of Bombardier Transportation. I ...

. The newly built ED72s were assigned to large interregional transit operations in the towns of

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Szczecin,

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, and Bydgoszcz. The series was created as an "upmarket" replacement for the more spartan

and EN71 electric multiple units. Unfortunately, the express passenger service, InterRegio, for which the series was designed didn't find the ED72 to be quite as comfortable as they had hoped. Currently, all 21 units are still in use, servicing mostly InterRegio and some local Regio and RegioPlus trains.

Modifications

The ED72 introduced a number of innovations over the previous series of EMUs. Amongst these was converting the rb (rear

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 ...

s) sections to first class units which were fitted with more comfortable seats, as well as new upholstery in the second class carriages. Double glazed windows were fitted; buttons for opening and closing the doors were installed — rather than having to wait for the driver to operate them; and matrix route manifests were installed, as opposed to the traditional blinds which only displayed the train's destination. The last unit to be produced — ED72-021 — is unique in that it has sliding doors that open outwards. In terms of the unit's appearance, the major difference — apart from the red and yellow colour scheme — is the control car's frontal aspect. Furthermore, ED72s were originally equipped with single-arm pantographs, but most have been converted to using the traditional, diamond-shaped, double-arm version. The ED72's couplers allow it to be easily connected to other EMUs, and this is done quite frequently.

Rebuilds and refurbishment

20 of the 21 ED72 units (except the last one) have been either rebuilt by ZNTK "Minsk Mazowiecki" and PESA Bydgoszcz or refurbished by Polregio Rolling Stock Repair Plant in Kruszewiec between 2011 and 2020. 6 units have been rebuilt to ED72A in 2011–2013, sporting a redesigned driver's cab design similar to rebuilt EN57 and EN71 "turbokibels", while another 6 units were rebuilt to ED72Ac in 2017–2018, sporting a much more streamlined driver's cab nose design somewhat reminiscent of the Pesa Elf. Interior-only refurbishments were performed by the aforementioned Polregio Rolling Stock Repair Plant on the remaining 8 units, mainly including new bike racks.

Resources

Modern Locos GalleryRail Servicewww.lokomotywy.prv.plMikolejeChabówka Rail Museum

History

Modifications

Rebuilds and refurbishment

Resources

See also