SWITZERLAND: The first of the 44 ICN tilting inter-city trainsets to be refurbished was unveiled by Swiss Federal Railways on October 24.
Following testing, the seven-car RABDe 500 trainset is expected to re-enter service this year. The fleet was built by Adtranz and Fiat-SIG, later Bombardier Transportation and now Alstom. They entered service from 2001, and each set has now covered around 8 million km in traffic.
The SFr500m modernisation programme which involves around 150 staff at the Yverdon-les-Bains workshop aims to provide another 20 years of operation.
Technical improvements include refurbishment of the bogies and traction motors, removal of corrosion and an external repaint.
Interior changes include revised lighting, improved mobile phone reception, reupholstered seats, new carpets and tables with integrated power sockets. The dining car has new seats and the family zone has been redesigned. There are large high-resolution LED information screens, refurbished toilets.
The second trainset is to be completed in Q1 2025, and the rest will be modernised by 2031 at a rate of seven to eight per year.
