The Class 420 (german: Baureihe 420) is a commuter
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
train type in service on German
S-Bahn networks since 1972. Their use in Munich during the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
earned them the colloquial name (Olympic multiple unit).
Design
Livery variations
Each of the three prototype sets received a different livery. 420 001 had an orange and white livery, 420 002 had a blue and white livery, and 420 003 wine-red and white livery.
A public poll over the livery of the S-Bahn trains was held in Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf. Munich received blue trains, Düsseldorf chose orange and Frankfurt also received orange liveried trains due to economic reasons, despite opting for the red livery.
Units used on Munich S-Bahn services to the
airport received a light blue livery.
All units still in service were repainted into the traffic-red livery.
Interior
Passenger accommodation consists of transverse seating bays in a 2+2 layout, with longitudinal folding seats at the luggage area in one of the end cars.
420Plus
Between April 2005 and January 2006, two trains (420 400 and 420 416) received an experimental refurbishment at DB Krefeld-Oppum works, and were branded as "420Plus".
Changes to the interior included new seating, the addition of air conditioning and windows in the inner car ends, passenger information displays and push-button door openers. Entry into passenger service followed in April 2006.
Technical specifications
Formation
Each unit consists of three cars. The end cars are designated as class 420, and the intermediate cars are designated as class 421. They are equipped with couplers enabling operation of up to three units together.
Car body
The car bodies of the end cars are made out of steel. The intermediate cars have aluminium car bodies.
Beginning with the 2. batch units, the car body construction of the end cars was changed from steel to aluminium, in order to save weight.
Electric systems
The electrical equipment was built by
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...
,
Brown-Boveri
Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies.
It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1970 ...
, and
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
.
They are the first DB trains that were equipped with
thyristor-phase control.
Each bogie is fitted with two mixed current
commutator
In mathematics, the commutator gives an indication of the extent to which a certain binary operation fails to be commutative. There are different definitions used in group theory and ring theory.
Group theory
The commutator of two elements, a ...
motors. The current of the traction motors is controlled steplessly over two asymmetrical semi-controlled
rectifier bridge
A diode bridge is a bridge rectifier circuit of four diodes that is used in the process of converting alternating current (AC) from the input terminals to direct current (DC, i.e. fixed polarity) on the output terminals. Its function is to co ...
s in sequence.
History
Munich
The first unit was presented in Munich on October 30, 1969.
Entry into service on the Munich S-Bahn was in May 1972. The last original Munich S-Bahn units were withdrawn in December 2004.
15 refurbished former S-Bahn Stuttgart sets
entered service on the Munich S-Bahn network in 2014. 21 further trains are scheduled to enter service in Munich, in order to reduce the shortage of rolling stock due to the refurbishment of Class 423 trains.
These former
Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn units will be fitted with ''
Linienzugbeeinflussung'' (LZB), which enables them to run on the Stammstrecke.
Stuttgart
The trains entered service on the Stuttgart S-Bahn network in 1978.
The last trains (420 450 and 420 461)
were withdrawn from Stuttgart S-Bahn services after an official farewell run from Plochingen to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof on November 4, 2016, followed by five scheduled public farewell runs on the same day.
Frankfurt and Rhine-Main area
The trains entered service in the Rhine-Main area in April 1978.
The last trains were withdrawn from Frankfurt/Rhein-Main S-Bahn services in November 2014.
Cologne and Rhine-Ruhr area
Class 420 trains entered service in the Rhine-Ruhr area in May 1974.
The trains had smoking and non-smoking cars.
Stockholm
In 2003, 15 sets were lent to
Storstockholms Lokaltrafik for use on
Pendeltåg services around Stockholm.
These SL Class X420 trains underwent modifications, which included changes to the cabs, the addition of Swedish
Automatic Train Control, and boards to cope with the lower platform heights in Stockholm.
The trains were scrapped after their withdrawal.
Preserved examples
Five units and one end car are preserved in various museums.
*420 001: Prototype set, preserved at the
DB Museum in Nuremberg
*420 002: Prototype end car 420 002, preserved at the
Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
in
Munich
*420 298: Former S-Bahn Stuttgart / S-Bahn Rhein-Main unit, preserved by Oberhessische Eisenbahnfreunde in
Gießen
*420 300: First unit for the Stuttgart S-Bahn network, preserved at the Eisenbahn-Erlebniswelt in Horb am Neckar
*420 400: Refurbished 420Plus unit, preserved at the Eisenbahn-Erlebniswelt in
Horb am Neckar
*420 416: Refurbished 420Plus unit, preserved at the DB Museum in Nuremberg
Additionally, one cab end is preserved as a driving simulator.
References
External links
Die Baureihe 420 der Deutschen Bahn - Interessengemeinschaft S-Bahn München e.V.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Db Class 420
420
420 may refer to:
* 420 (number)
* 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20
**California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act
*AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar
* ...
X420
15 kV AC multiple units