Railcar class 642 or Desiro Classic from Siemens Mobility

Since March 2009, the Desiro Classic has been operating daily between Dresden Central Station and Wroclaw Glowny (Wroclaw Central Station) with three pairs of trains. Between Görlitz and Breslau often in double traction. The railcars on this line were modernised for operation on the Polish network.

Since December 2008, the Desiro trains have also been operating on the Westpfalz network. Due to the high station density and the tight timetable, the vehicles were equipped with more powerful engines and steps on the doors. In addition, they received a new interior design. Some vehicles were given, by means of “train baptism”, city and place names with coats of arms.

The railcar class 642 has also been in service in the Southern Palatinate network since December 2010. Some of the railcars have been parked due to line closures and reallocations as well as lack of demand.

The following railway companies have the railcar class 642 (Desiro Classic) in stock

The passenger compartment of the Desiro is divided into the low-floor area (starting at the entrance to the seating area above the Jacob bogies) and the higher areas at the end of the car. The low-floor area is smaller than in other comparable multiple units due to the comparatively larger engine compartment. The boarding and transition areas are separated by glass walls and doors. The walls are made of plastic, partly of wood. The railcar class 642 is available with different seat distributions. The original version has 98 seats in 2nd class and 12 seats in 1st class. In the low-floor entrance area, the trains have folding seats on the wall, which provide space for bicycles, wheelchairs or prams. On the Kahlgrundbahn there are trains without 1st class.

Above the seats, there is a continuous glass luggage rack with an illuminated strip and a stop request button for each seating group. Display panels at the front and sides show the destination, sometimes also the intermediate stops, for waiting passengers on the platform. The toilet is handicapped accessible and can be reached with a wide sliding door in the low-floor area and is designed as a closed system. A passenger intercom system to the driver is located in the boarding areas.

The passenger compartment is heated by a hot water circulating air heating system, in case of extreme cold by oil firing. In summer the temperature is regulated by air conditioning. However, the air conditioning systems are still prone to malfunction.

The wide entrances are stepless and have swinging and sliding doors. Recycling bins are installed next to the stairs at the transition to the normal height passenger compartment and extendable ash trays under every seat, except folding seats. On DB Regio vehicles, the ash trays have been partially removed.

The car body is designed as a self-supporting aluminium tube in integral construction. The headboards with the driver’s cabs are GRP modules which are glued to the extended underframe of the aluminium car body.

The railcar class 642 (Desiro) is driven by two diesel engines from the manufacturers MTU or MAN. The following power ratings are available.

275 kW / 374 HP
315 kW / 428 HP
335 kW / 455 HP
360 kW / 490 HP

The engines are located below the high-floor area between the driven bogie and the low-floor area. The trains are equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission with starting converter and integrated retarder, which transmit the torque to the outer bogie.

An electro-pneumatic brake and an indirect multi-release pneumatic brake are installed in the railcars. In addition, the motor bogies were equipped with magnetic rail brakes. In combination with the retarder and the ep-brake, hydrodynamic braking is also possible. Furthermore, a spring-loaded brake is installed as parking brake. The magnetic brake is used for forced and rapid braking, but not for emergency braking. It can be switched on by the driver via a toggle switch.

The trains are equipped with Scharfenberg couplers with contact attachments as pulling and pushing devices. This coupler also allows towing of other series. The so-called winging, the combined guidance of two trains with different running paths, is thus made considerably easier.

Further equipment of the trains includes the matrix train destination display mounted on the front, a ticket machine in the multi-purpose compartment, sliding steps (only installed in some trains) and a video surveillance system.