New trains arriving late
The Swiss Federal Railways is expected to take delivery of 23 new Twindexx Swiss Express trains by the end of the year, three years after the originally projected delivery date.
The first of these Swiss Express trains are expected to be handed over in the summer. A total of 62 locomotives have been ordered. The rest should be delivered by the end of 2019.
Bombardier Transportation, with its headquarters in Berlin, won the tender to supply the double-decker trains for intercity rail travel in June 2012.
They feature ‘FLEXX Tronic WAKO system bogie technology’, said to enable faster acceleration through curves. The company says this will shorten journey time and facilitate more efficient timetables.
The trains should have been delivered three years ago, but Bombardier is said to have underestimated the design requirements. Completion was also delayed by additional requests from Swiss Federal Railways and associations for disabled people, who wanted more room for wheelchairs.
Last year, Federal Railways CEO Andreas Meyer said that Bombardier was having difficulties with the software, which brought in question whether the order could be completed by the end of 2017.
The Swiss Express trains offer around 300 seats more than today’s 1,000-seat double-deckers.
The Swiss love their trains. About 1.25 million passengers are said to travel by train every day, out of a population of about 8 million people.
Despite their reputation for punctuality and efficiency, Swiss trains aren’t perfect. Two derailments with the span of a week in March caused major disruptions in Lucerne, where six passengers suffered minor injuries, and travel inconveniences around Bern.
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