SWITZERLAND: Stadler Rail and Swiss Federal Railways are using a full-size wooden mock-up to verify the planned interior design of the 29 Giruno trainsets ordered in May 2014 for use on services from Basel and Zürich to Milano via the Gotthard base tunnel.
The mock-up at Stadler’s Bussnang factory includes representations of the first and second class areas, as well as the buffet, cab and facilities for disabled passengers. It has been visited by more than 200 staff and stakeholders, who have put forward 270 suggestions which SBB and Stadler hope will avoid the need for expensive changes to be made at later stages.
SBB says the 11-car low-floor articulated 249 km/h trainsets will have ‘spacious and bright’ interiors, with 3G/4G mobile phone signal amplifiers, power sockets at all seats, large overhead luggage racks and separate male and female toilets.
Construction of the new trains is expected to begin in early 2016. They are scheduled to enter service in 2019, three years after the base tunnel opens, cutting Zürich – Milano journey times to under 3 h.
