Good news for shaken passengers SBB rebuilds breakdown train Dosto
The Dosto is not only known as a breakdown train, but also as a shaking train. Now a conversion is to significantly improve ride comfort in the double-decker trains. Most of the costs will be borne by SBB.
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- Introduced ten years ago, the double-decker train - the "Dosto" - travels unevenly and shakes passengers.
- SBB now wants to significantly improve ride comfort with a conversion.
- Manufacturer Alstom is involved in the development of several prototypes. However, the cost of converting the entire fleet of 62 trains will have to be borne by SBB.
- The "Dosto" went onto the rails ten years ago after delivery delays and subsequently annoyed rail passengers with a series of breakdowns and failures.
The SBB's double-decker train, known as the "Dosto", was born of pincers. Those responsible at the Federal Railways admit this themselves. Ten years ago, after a delay in delivery, it went into service and made headlines with a series of breakdowns and defects.
Since then it has become more reliable, but what has remained is that it shakes the passengers. Hence its second nickname "shaking train". It wobbles, it shakes, and that on the important route from St. Gallen via Bern to Geneva.
It became even more uncomfortable for sensitive passengers when the Dosto took a bend by means of "roll compensation". SBB stopped using this technology two years ago. Ride comfort had suffered too much as a result.
62 train compositions affected
Now the double-decker is being given a deeper upgrade. The aim is for the train to run more smoothly and for the shaking and swaying experienced by some to be eliminated or significantly reduced, according to SRF SBB spokeswoman Sabrina Schellenberg.
According to SBB, the bogie of 62 Dosto compositions is to be optimized to increase running smoothness and ride comfort. Roll compensation will be expanded.
Together with the manufacturer Alstom, SBB is initially building several prototypes.
Manufacturer hardly involved in conversion
The interesting thing is who will bear the costs: Alstom is participating in the development of the prototype on the basis of a contract with SBB. However, the railroad company must pay for the conversion of the entire Dosto fleet itself.
First, however, the prototypes have to prove themselves. They should be on the rails as early as 2025. Based on this experience, SBB will decide whether to convert the other train compositions, which would then be financed in the same way as the normal maintenance of the rolling stock, explains Schellenberg.
By 2030, the Dosto should be rolling along the tracks so smoothly that it can shake off its other nickname.
