SBB RABDe 500

Swiss Federal Railways ordered an initial 24 7-car trainsets in 1996 at a cost of CHF 500 million. The contract went to a consortium including Adtranz, Schindler Waggon [de], and Fiat-SIG.^[4] Pininfarina designed the vehicle body.^[5] The trains were intended for use on the Jura Foot Line; adopting tilting technology allowed SBB to defer track upgrades over the route.^[6]

The first trainsets entered service on the 28 May 2000 timetable change, running from St. Gallen via Winterthur, Zürich and Biel/Bienne to Lausanne.^[7] All 24 trainsets were in service by the opening of the Expo.02 national exposition in May 2002. The trains all carried the slogan "enable the future" (French: Permettre le futur).^[8]

SBB ordered another 10 trainsets, with an option for 10 more, in June 2001. SBB exercised the option that December, for a total of 20 additional transets at CHF 420 million.^[9][2] Delivery was complete by 2005.^[1]

Formerly, SBB designated intercity services operated by the SBB RABDe 500 as "ICN", differentiating them from other InterCity (IC) and InterRegio (IR) services. This practice ceased with the December 2017 timetable changes, in which all IC and IR services gained numbers and the ICN category was eliminated.^[10] RABDe 500-operated services are indicated on timetables and mobile applications by the "TT" label.^[11]

All 44 trainsets were refurbished between 2012 and 2019, an overhaul taking 25 days per train.^[12] Another overhaul, taking place between 2021 and 2029, will replace the interiors and improve mobile phone reception.^[13]

As of the December 2022 timetable change,^[update] the RABDe 500 is primarily used on two InterCity routes: the IC 5, running from Geneva Airport to Rorschach or from Lausanne to Zürich HB; and the IC 51, running from Basel SBB to Biel/Bienne.^[14]

Each formation is composed of seven cars. The first two and last two cars in the trainset are the second class cars, and have the traction motors and powered axles. The three middle cars carry first class seating; the third car is split between first class and the restaurant car.^[1] The formation is 188,800 mm (619 ft 5 in) long and weighs 355 t (349 long tons; 391 short tons). The car body is a monocoque design built out of aluminium.^[5]

The RABDe 500 can tilt at a maximum of 8 degrees.^[7] Eight 650-kilowatt (870 hp) traction motors produce 5,200 kilowatts (7,000 hp); the train can travel at a maximum speed of 200 kilometres per hour (124 mph).^[1] On routes with a significant number of curves, the tilting technology could reduce travel times by 10-20%.^[15] For example, on the Lausanne–St. Gallen route, the introduction of the trains shortened travel times by 15 minutes.^[7]

In 2015–2016, eighteen trainsets were adapted for operation in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Changes included improved fire detection equipment, cab signaling upgrades, and improvements to heating and cooling.^[15] This was a temporary measure until newer non-tilting trains SBB RABe 501 Giruno trains became available.^[16]

All forty-four RABDe 500 trains are named after famous Swiss scholars, artists, writers, politicians, engineers, and architects. Each train bears the portrait of its namesake, painted by Bernese painter Martin Fivian, in the third car (first class and restaurant).^[17]

List of names:^[1]

• Train categories in Europe
• List of high-speed trains

• König, Christian; Forrer, Daniel (1998). "Der SBB-Neigezug ICN zwei Jahre nach der Bestellung". Eisenbahn-Revue International (in German). No. 10. pp. 422–431.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SBB RABDe 500.

• ICN on SBB