The SOB ''Traverso'', designated RABe 526, is a passenger articulated trainset manufactured by

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

for

Südostbahn The Südostbahn (German language, German, ) – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Switzerland, Swiss railway company, and a network in Central Switzerland, Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the Schweizerische S ...

, a railway company in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is a derivative of the

Stadler FLIRT Stadler FLIRT (, ) is a passenger multiple unit trainset made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. The baseline design of FLIRT is an electric multiple unit Articulated car, articulated trainset that can come in units of two to twelve cars with two t ...

and began entering service in 2019. Südostbahn employs the ''Traversos'' on long-distance routes such as the '' Voralpen-Express'' and the ' services over the traditional Gotthard railway.

History

(SOB) ordered six eight-car trainsets from

in June 2016, as part of an order that also included five four-car trainsets for use on local services. Südostbahn ordered eleven more eight-car trainsets in December 2017 to operate two

InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...

routes, dubbed ', that would use the traditional route over the Gotthard railway. Under an agreement with

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

, SOB would assume the operation of these services with the December 2020 timetable change. With SOB and SBB having made a further agreement for the joint operation of the ' between and , SOB ordered seven more trainsets in December 2018. Altogether the three orders cost . As planned, the first ''Traversos'' began operation in December 2019 on the ''Voralpen-Express''. The trains were painted in a copper livery that according to SOB symbolized "the historical development of human society." The ''Treno Gottardo'' trains, operating from and Zürich HB to , commenced in December 2020. SOB began running ''Traversos'' on the ''Aare Linth'' in December 2021.

Design

Each formation is composed of eight cars, with a normal seating capacity of 359. Altogether the formation is long. Cars are wide and stand tall. The cars are designed for

low floor Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname) Low is an English language, English and Languages of Scotland, Scottish surname. It is also a common surname found among Overseas Chinese language, Chinese communities around the world. ...

boarding; doors are from the ground. ''Traversos'' have both first- and second-class seating, 68 of the former and 291 of the latter. There are also 21 seats that can fold out for additional capacity. Vending machines provide on-board catering.

Rolling stock

The Traverso fleet was delivered in four series: *Series 1 (RABe 526 201–206) was delivered in 2019 *Series 2 (RABe 526 297–217) was delivered in 2020 *Series 3 (RABe 526 218–224) was delivered in 2021 *Series 4 (RABe 526 225–230) was delivered in 2024

References

External links

SOB-Flotte
{{in lang, de Stadler Rail multiple units Multiple units of Switzerland Train-related introductions in 2019 15 kV AC multiple units