NS Mat '54 on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The NS Mat '54 or Materieel '54 was an
The NS Mat '54 or Materieel '54 was an 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 number o ...
train, used by the Dutch State-owned railways from 1956 until 1996. The typical nose of the train was designed for extra safety for the train driver. The public gave the train a nickname: ''Doghead'' (''Hondekop'').
The trains were built by Allan of Rotterdam
Allan & Co was a former railway rolling stock and tram manufacturer based in Rotterdam, Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territ ...
, Beijnes
Beijnes (1838 – 1963) is a defunct Haarlem manufacturer of carriages, buses, trains, and trams. It was closely associated with the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HIJSM)
History
J.J. Beijnes the elder opened a horse carriage sho ...
and Werkspoor
Werkspoor N.V. was the shortened, and later the official name of the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel. It was a Dutch machine factory, known for rolling stock, (ship) steam engines, and diesel engines. It was a successo ...
. Equipped with a Scharfenberg coupler
The Scharfenberg coupler (, abbreviated ''Schaku'') is a commonly used type of fully automatic railway coupling.
Designed in 1903 by Karl Scharfenberg in Königsberg, Germany (today Kaliningrad, Russia), the coupler has gradually spread from tr ...
, they could run in series. Not only with the same model but also with older models, the NS Mat '35, NS Mat '36, NS Mat '40
NS as an abbreviation can mean:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* ''Natural Selection'' (video game), a mod for the game ''Half-Life''
* '' NetStorm: Islands At War'', a real-time strategy game published in 1997 by Activision
* Nintendo Switch, a ...
and NS Mat '46.
The trains were intended for express train services. Rapid acceleration was of less importance than comfort and therefore the trains were solidly constructed, which resulted in a relatively high weight per seat and gave a very smooth and (for that time) very comfortable run. It is still the heaviest passenger train type to ever ride a European railway. The train needed three minutes to accelerate to a speed of a 120 km/h.
A variant is the NS Mat '57 for Benelux
The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...
-service which was equipped to ride with the difference in electric current
An electric current is a flow of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is defined as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface. The moving particles are called charge c ...
used on the Dutch and Belgian railways so it could connect Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
and Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
with Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
and Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
.
From 1954 till 1962 a total of 153 were built: 73 models with four coaches
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Coac ...
, 68 with two coaches and 12 for the Benelux-service consisting of two coaches. The trains were painted in green and yellow. In 1968 a new yellow blue color scheme was introduced. It took until 1980 until the last train was painted in new colors. The reason that it took twelve years was because the green paint lasted very well and the Dutch railways tried to cut costs wherever possible. The Benelux models were painted dark blue and yellow.
Two of the trains were involved in the 1975 Dutch train hostage crisis
On 2 December 1975, seven South Moluccans seized a train with about 50 passengers on board in open countryside near the village of Wijster, halfway between Hoogeveen and Beilen in the northern part of the Netherlands. The hijacking lasted fo ...
and 1977 Dutch train hijacking
On 23 May 1977, a train was hijacked near the village of De Punt, Netherlands. At around 9am, nine armed Moluccans, Moluccan Moluccan diaspora, nationalists pulled the Emergency brake (train), emergency brake and took over 50 people hostage. T ...
.
Notes
References
{{Europe-rail-transport-stub Electric multiple units of the Netherlands Train-related introductions in 1956 1500 V DC multiple units of the Netherlands 3000 V DC multiple units