DBAG Class 612 explained

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DBAG Class 612
Manufacturer:	Adtranz, Hennigsdorf factory Bombardier Transportation
Yearconstruction:	1998-2003
Numberbuilt:	192 trainsets
Trainlength:	51.75frac=8NaNfrac=8 over couplings
Maxspeed:	160km/h
Weight:	Service: 119t
Engine:	Cummins QSK19
Enginetype:	Diesel engine
Poweroutput:	750hp per car
Transmission:	Hydraulic
Uicclass:	2′B′+ B′2′
Brakes:	KE-R-A-Mg-H

The DBAG Class 612 is a two car, tilting, diesel multiple unit operated by the Deutsche Bahn for fast regional rail services on unelectrified lines.

General information

The Class are a two car tilting DMU built between 1998 and 2003 by Adtranz in Hennigsdorf which later became Bombardier Transportation. The class are also known as RegioSwingers.

They were developed to replace the problematic DB Class 611. The sets worked fine between 1998 and 2004 until cracks were detected in a number of wheelsets and so the tilting system was disabled and curves on lines had to have reduced speed limits, which affected the timetables and connections. From 2005 the trains had the wheelsets replaced and the tilting system was back up and running. The maximum tilt is 8°.

After ICE TD class 605 was grounded due to a fracture of an axle in one unit, it was replaced by class 612 on the Dresden-Munich line 2003, as replacement by anything other than a tilting DMU would have meant an extension of travel time. Even though class 612 was not constructed for ICE-type travelling comfort, 16 units were repainted in the ICE paint scheme and renumbered as class 612.4.

The RegioSwinger design is also used by Croatian Railways as class HŽ 7123.

Liveries

Most units are in the standard Verkehrsrot Red livery. In 2003 17 units were painted in the ICE scheme of White with a red band, however, these are now back in all red.

After 2017, trains using the yellow/white/black branding of bwegt, the mobility brand of the Baden-Württemberg State Ministry for Transport have been operating out of Ulm.

Services

Class 612 are used on the following services in the different regions (2012):

DB Regio Bayern

IRE 1 Nürnberg - Bayreuth - Hof - Plauen - Zwickau - Chemnitz – Dresden
RE Hof/Bayreuth – Lichtenfels – Saalfeld
RE Hof – Bamberg
RE Hof – Würzburg
RE Hof – Nürnberg
RB Lichtenfels – Kronach
RE Regensburg – Schwandorf – Weiden – Marktredwitz – Hof
RE Würzburg – Bamberg – Hof/Bayreuth
RE Nürnberg – Schwandorf/Weiden
RB Würzburg – Schweinfurt – Ebenhausen – Bad Kissingen
RE Nürnberg – Donauwörth – Augsburg – Buchloe – Kempten – Immenstadt – Lindau/Oberstdorf (called "Allgäu-Franken-Express")
RE Lindau – Immenstadt – Kempten – Memmingen – Ulm
RE Oberstdorf – Immenstadt – Kempten – Memmingen – Ulm
RE Lindau - Kempten - Augsburg

DB Regio Nordrhein-Westfalen

RE 17 Hagen – Schwerte (Ruhr) – Fröndenberg – Arnsberg (Westf) – Meschede – Bestwig – Brilon-Wald – Marsberg – Warburg (Westf) – Hofgeismar – Grebenstein – Kassel Hbf – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe

DB Regio Rhein Neckar

RE 4 Karlsruhe – Graben-Neudorf – Germersheim – Speyer – Ludwigshafen – Worms – Mainz

DB Regio Südwest

RE 3 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Mainz – Bad Kreuznach – Kirn – Idar-Oberstein – Türkismühle – Saarbrücken
RE 11 Saarbrücken - Saarlouis - Merzig - Trier
RE 12 Trier – Bitburg – Gerolstein – Kall – Euskirchen – Köln
RE 25 Koblenz Hbf – Limburg (Lahn) – Wetzlar – Gießen
IRE Stuttgart Hbf — Tübingen Hbf — Sigmaringen(— Aulendorf)/ — Rottenburg(— Horb)(Stuttgart Hbf — Tübingen Hbf only calling at Reutlingen Hbf)

DB Regio Südost

RE 4 Hannover Hbf – Hildesheim – Goslar – Bad Harzburg – Halberstadt – Halle (Saale) (– Leipzig)
RE 6 Leipzig – Chemnitz
RE 16 Leipzig – Altenburg – Reichenbach (V.) – Hof/Adorf
RE 1 Dresden – Bischofswerda – Görlitz
RE 2 Dresden – Bischofswerda – Zittau – Liberec – Tanvald
RE 3 Nürnberg – Marktredwitz – Hof – Zwickau – Chemnitz – Dresden
RE 1 Göttingen – Gotha – Erfurt – Gera – Gößnitz – Zwickau/Chemnitz
RE 3 Erfurt – Gera – Altenburg
RE 14 Erfurt – Meiningen
RE 7 Würzburg – Suhl – Erfurt

Citations

Book: Garvin, Brian . German Railways: The Complete Guide to All Locomotives and Multiple Units of Deutsche Bahn . 1 . 2013 . Sheffield, UK . Platform 5 Publishing . 978-1-9094-3103-4 .
Book: Garvin, Brian . German Railways: The Complete Guide to All Locomotives and Multiple Units of Deutsche Bahn . 2 . 2015 . Sheffield, UK . Platform 5 Publishing . 978-1-9094-3118-8 .
Web site: Tilting train technology at Deustsche Bahn AG - Prophecies, reality and necessary innovations . Dr. T. . Erpenbeck . A. . Büttner . Dr. V. . Voges . 2006 . . 2017-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160219114108/http://www.uic.org/cdrom/2006/wcrr2006/pdf/725.pdf . 2016-02-19 . dead .