DBAG Class 612

Updated on Jan 18, 2024

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Quantity 192 Axle arrangement 2'B'+ B'2'		Entered service 1998-2003

Manufacturer Adtranz, Hennigsdorf factory Bombardier Transportation Length over buffers 51.750 m (169 ft 9 ⁄8 in) Service weight 119 t (117 long tons; 131 short tons)

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 wheel sets 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 wheel sets 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

All 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.

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

References

DBAG Class 612 Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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