BM71
Encyclopedia
GMB Class 71 is an electric multiple unit
used by Flytoget
for the Airport Express Trains on the Gardermoen Line of Norway
. Sixteen three-car train sets were built by Adtranz
Strømmen
between 1997 and 1998. The units are capable of 210 km/h (130.5 mph), connecting Oslo Central Station and other stations in Metropolitan Oslo
to the Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
, along Norway's only high-speed railway.
In a three-car configuration, the units weigh 158 tonne and are 82.3 metre long, with a power output of 2645 kW. The units are similar to the NSB Class 73
, and are related to the Swedish X2 units. The units have been involved in several smaller incidents, including one fatal accident, and have been criticized for not being accessible for the disabled. By 2009, all units were expanded with a fourth car.
high-speed intercity trains. Although the technology involved is similar, like spot-welded stainless steel car bodies, the Class 71 differs in several ways. First, the unit does not have a separate locomotive
unit, but has the motors spread throughout the train, with one powered and one unpowered bogie
in each car. The car bodies are totally different in layout, including the doors between bogies instead of at the end of the cars. In addition, the trains are pressure tight to increase comfort for passengers while passing through tunnels. They also have hydraulic couplers at the ends, which are hidden behind covers when not used. The Class 71 is also shorter, with only three cars, and does not have any tilting technology
installed. The exterior design, especially the nose, is quite different. Norges Statsbaner later took order of 22 units of the Class 73, that is almost identical, but has four cars and tilting technology. Class 73 also has movable pantograph
to keep catenary
centered on the pantograph.
Each train has a 2645 kW power output; this is more in relation to the weight than normal for a trains with such maximum speed. The units use the standard Norwegian voltage of . Up to four units can be run in multiple
, creating 12-car (or 16-car after the upgrade) trains. However, the trains normally only operate as single or double units, limiting the length to eight cars. End cars are 27.9 m (91.5 ft) and weigh 52 tonne, while center cars are 26.32 m (86.4 ft) and weigh 54 tonne. The pantograph is located on the center car. Each unit has 168 seats, that are built modally so that the seating can be reconfigured. The sixteen units cost .
During construction, the weight had increased from 149 to 170 tonnes; to reduce this to 158 tonnes, the original idea of step-free access was discontinued. Instead, a wheelchair lift was installed, but it proved not to work. The area around the doors are step-free from the platform, but within the trains steps must be taken to reach the seating area. The Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People
have criticized Flytoget for ordering identical additional cars that will not ease access for the disabled.
The Class 71 is capable of speeds up to 210 km/h (130.5 mph), compared to 200 km/h (124.3 mph) in the original. This speed was chosen to make it possible to get from Oslo Central Station to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen in less than 20 minutes. A higher speed than that would, however, require signaling to be moved from the rail-side to the cab, and such signaling has not been taken into use in Norway. The units are built in such a way that they cannot be split up without much work at a depot
, and are never used in anything but their native car configuration.
When the Parliament of Norway decided to build Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, on 8 October 1992, they also decided to build a high-speed
airport rail link
from Oslo Central Station to the airport. This railway, the Gardermoen Line, was to be built and operated by a subsidiary of Norwegian State Railways, NSB Gardermobanen
. To operate the railway they needed sixteen electric multiple units.
In addition to tests in Sweden, the X2 was tried out on the Randsfjord Line on 12 March 1993. The order for the units was placed on 23 February 1995, after NSB had received bids from ABB (that later merged with Daimler
's train division to become ADtranz), AEG
, Fiat Ferroviaria
, Talbot
, Linke-Hofmann-Busch
, Siemens
and Görlitz. During 1996, an X2 train was rented to test out performance on the Norwegian railway system
, and for a short period put into service on the Sørland Line. The first Class 71 unit was delivered on 19 September 1997, and the last on 30 January 1998. The last unit, no. 71.16, was delivered with tilting mechanism to be used to test performance on the Norwegian railways, due to the similarities between Class 71 and Class 73. It could be seen during the winter on the challenging Bergen Line and Dovre Line. After a few years the tilting mechanism was removed.
In 2007, Flytoget announced that they had ordered a fourth car for each of the units. This increased the capacity of each unit by 40% to 244 seats, and allows the company to manage the annual 10% growth in passengers. The delivery of the fourth cars started in 2008 and were built by Bombardier Transportation
, who has bought ADtranz, with the rebuilding scheduled to be completed during 2009. The rebuilding created several challenges for Bombardier, since most of the components used in the class were no longer available. Significant components such as the car body and rectifier
s had to be built by Bombardier based on abandoned production lines, and many of the original manufacturers for the interior have become defunct.
From 2010, the Norwegian Rail School operates a simulator center for training motormen. It consists of six mock-ups of the Class 71 driver's cab, and is used both by the school and to train existing Airport Express Train drivers in exceptional circumstances. The simulators were built by Sydac and cost NOK 35 million.
The sister trains in service with NSB were prone to technical failures, since they have to operate on hundred-year-old infrastructure on cross-mountain services. The Class 71 has more lenient operating conditions thanks to better infrastructure, and therefore has not been prone to as much malfunction. The only incident to ground all the Class 71 trains occurred on 17 June 2000, after a Class 73-train operated by NSB derailed at Nelaug Station
owing to stress on the axles. The Oslo Airport Express Train
s were back in service the next day, while the 73-series had to wait another month before returning to service. On 24 January 2004, a Class 71 unit had to be taken out of service due to smoke from a stressed bearing
, causing the replacement of the bearings on all units within days.
Several deaths have taken place on the route, but only one due to an accident. In 1999, an employee of the Norwegian National Rail Administration was killed after impact with a train; the authorities stated that the cause was due to the train operating at 160 kilometres per hour (99.4 mph), instead of the temporarily reduced limit of 80 kilometres per hour (49.7 mph). The company was fined for not informing the driver of the speed limit reduction. Several other deaths on the line have been classified as suicide
s, and so are not part of the accident statistics; they do however cause delays on all services for hours after the incidents take place.
In 2000 and 2001, Flytoget experienced three derailments with empty trains at Gardermoen; one caused by the engineer falling asleep and two by the train passing a red light. No more such accidents occurred after Automatic Train Control
was installed in 2001.
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
used by Flytoget
Flytoget
is a Norwegian high-speed airport rail link connecting Oslo Airport, Gardermoen to Oslo Central Station in nineteen minutes. Run by Flytoget AS , it operates on the high-speed Gardermoen Line using sixteen GMB Class 71 electric trains. Normal service frequency is once every ten minutes, with half...
for the Airport Express Trains on the Gardermoen Line of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Sixteen three-car train sets were built by Adtranz
Adtranz
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation , commonly known under its brand Adtranz, was a multi-national rail transport equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the USA....
Strømmen
Strømmens Værksted
Strømmens Værksted A/S was an industrial company based in Skedsmo, Norway, specializing in the production of rolling stock. Founded in 1873, it remains as a part of Bombardier Transportation...
between 1997 and 1998. The units are capable of 210 km/h (130.5 mph), connecting Oslo Central Station and other stations in Metropolitan Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
to the Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
, along Norway's only high-speed railway.
In a three-car configuration, the units weigh 158 tonne and are 82.3 metre long, with a power output of 2645 kW. The units are similar to the NSB Class 73
NSB Class 73
NSB Class 73 is a class of 22 electric multiple units built by Adtranz for the Norwegian State Railways. The four-car trains were modifications of Class 71, which was again based on the Swedish X2. The A-series consists of 16 intercity trains; they were delivered in 1999 and 2000 and are used on...
, and are related to the Swedish X2 units. The units have been involved in several smaller incidents, including one fatal accident, and have been criticized for not being accessible for the disabled. By 2009, all units were expanded with a fourth car.
Specifications
The unit is based on the Swedish X2 designed by Kalmar Verkstad in the 1980s, and delivered from 1990 to the Swedish State Railways for use in their X 2000X 2000
X 2000 is the brand name of Sweden's tilting 200 km/h high-speed train class X2, which was constructed by Kalmar Verkstad in Kalmar, Sweden and operated by SJ. It was launched in 1990 as a first-class only train with a meal included in the ticket price, and free use of the train's fax machine...
high-speed intercity trains. Although the technology involved is similar, like spot-welded stainless steel car bodies, the Class 71 differs in several ways. First, the unit does not have a separate locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
unit, but has the motors spread throughout the train, with one powered and one unpowered bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
in each car. The car bodies are totally different in layout, including the doors between bogies instead of at the end of the cars. In addition, the trains are pressure tight to increase comfort for passengers while passing through tunnels. They also have hydraulic couplers at the ends, which are hidden behind covers when not used. The Class 71 is also shorter, with only three cars, and does not have any tilting technology
Tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest due to...
installed. The exterior design, especially the nose, is quite different. Norges Statsbaner later took order of 22 units of the Class 73, that is almost identical, but has four cars and tilting technology. Class 73 also has movable pantograph
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
to keep catenary
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
centered on the pantograph.
Each train has a 2645 kW power output; this is more in relation to the weight than normal for a trains with such maximum speed. The units use the standard Norwegian voltage of . Up to four units can be run in multiple
Multiple-unit train control
Multiple-unit train control, sometimes abbreviated to multiple-unit or MU, is a method of simultaneously controlling all the traction equipment in a train from a single location, whether it is a Multiple unit comprising a number of self-powered passenger cars or a set of locomotives.A set of...
, creating 12-car (or 16-car after the upgrade) trains. However, the trains normally only operate as single or double units, limiting the length to eight cars. End cars are 27.9 m (91.5 ft) and weigh 52 tonne, while center cars are 26.32 m (86.4 ft) and weigh 54 tonne. The pantograph is located on the center car. Each unit has 168 seats, that are built modally so that the seating can be reconfigured. The sixteen units cost .
During construction, the weight had increased from 149 to 170 tonnes; to reduce this to 158 tonnes, the original idea of step-free access was discontinued. Instead, a wheelchair lift was installed, but it proved not to work. The area around the doors are step-free from the platform, but within the trains steps must be taken to reach the seating area. The Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People
Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People
The Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People is an umbrella organization for interest organizations of disabled people in Norway....
have criticized Flytoget for ordering identical additional cars that will not ease access for the disabled.
The Class 71 is capable of speeds up to 210 km/h (130.5 mph), compared to 200 km/h (124.3 mph) in the original. This speed was chosen to make it possible to get from Oslo Central Station to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen in less than 20 minutes. A higher speed than that would, however, require signaling to be moved from the rail-side to the cab, and such signaling has not been taken into use in Norway. The units are built in such a way that they cannot be split up without much work at a depot
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
, and are never used in anything but their native car configuration.
History
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
airport rail link
Airport rail link
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city; by mainline- or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover or light rail...
from Oslo Central Station to the airport. This railway, the Gardermoen Line, was to be built and operated by a subsidiary of Norwegian State Railways, NSB Gardermobanen
Flytoget
is a Norwegian high-speed airport rail link connecting Oslo Airport, Gardermoen to Oslo Central Station in nineteen minutes. Run by Flytoget AS , it operates on the high-speed Gardermoen Line using sixteen GMB Class 71 electric trains. Normal service frequency is once every ten minutes, with half...
. To operate the railway they needed sixteen electric multiple units.
In addition to tests in Sweden, the X2 was tried out on the Randsfjord Line on 12 March 1993. The order for the units was placed on 23 February 1995, after NSB had received bids from ABB (that later merged with Daimler
Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...
's train division to become ADtranz), AEG
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....
, Fiat Ferroviaria
Fiat Ferroviaria
thumb|300px|[[FS Class E626]] locomotive, a mainstay of Italian railways starting from the 1930s.Fiat Ferroviaria was the rail division of FIAT of Italy....
, Talbot
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
, Linke-Hofmann-Busch
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
and Görlitz. During 1996, an X2 train was rented to test out performance on the Norwegian railway system
Rail transport in Norway
The Norwegian railway system comprises 4,087 km of track of which 2,622 km is electrified and 242 km double track. There are 696 tunnels and 2760 bridges....
, and for a short period put into service on the Sørland Line. The first Class 71 unit was delivered on 19 September 1997, and the last on 30 January 1998. The last unit, no. 71.16, was delivered with tilting mechanism to be used to test performance on the Norwegian railways, due to the similarities between Class 71 and Class 73. It could be seen during the winter on the challenging Bergen Line and Dovre Line. After a few years the tilting mechanism was removed.
In 2007, Flytoget announced that they had ordered a fourth car for each of the units. This increased the capacity of each unit by 40% to 244 seats, and allows the company to manage the annual 10% growth in passengers. The delivery of the fourth cars started in 2008 and were built by Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
, who has bought ADtranz, with the rebuilding scheduled to be completed during 2009. The rebuilding created several challenges for Bombardier, since most of the components used in the class were no longer available. Significant components such as the car body and rectifier
Rectifier
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current , which periodically reverses direction, to direct current , which flows in only one direction. The process is known as rectification...
s had to be built by Bombardier based on abandoned production lines, and many of the original manufacturers for the interior have become defunct.
From 2010, the Norwegian Rail School operates a simulator center for training motormen. It consists of six mock-ups of the Class 71 driver's cab, and is used both by the school and to train existing Airport Express Train drivers in exceptional circumstances. The simulators were built by Sydac and cost NOK 35 million.
Incidents
Nelaug Station
Nelaug Station is a railway station located at Nelaug in Åmli, Norway, north of the Nelaug Lake. The station functions as a meeting station of Sørland Line and Arendal Line, that latter which the station functions as terminal station for...
owing to stress on the axles. The Oslo Airport Express Train
Flytoget
is a Norwegian high-speed airport rail link connecting Oslo Airport, Gardermoen to Oslo Central Station in nineteen minutes. Run by Flytoget AS , it operates on the high-speed Gardermoen Line using sixteen GMB Class 71 electric trains. Normal service frequency is once every ten minutes, with half...
s were back in service the next day, while the 73-series had to wait another month before returning to service. On 24 January 2004, a Class 71 unit had to be taken out of service due to smoke from a stressed bearing
Bearing (mechanical)
A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can...
, causing the replacement of the bearings on all units within days.
Several deaths have taken place on the route, but only one due to an accident. In 1999, an employee of the Norwegian National Rail Administration was killed after impact with a train; the authorities stated that the cause was due to the train operating at 160 kilometres per hour (99.4 mph), instead of the temporarily reduced limit of 80 kilometres per hour (49.7 mph). The company was fined for not informing the driver of the speed limit reduction. Several other deaths on the line have been classified as suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
s, and so are not part of the accident statistics; they do however cause delays on all services for hours after the incidents take place.
In 2000 and 2001, Flytoget experienced three derailments with empty trains at Gardermoen; one caused by the engineer falling asleep and two by the train passing a red light. No more such accidents occurred after Automatic Train Control
Automatic Train Control
Automatic Train Control is a train protection system for railways, ensuring the safe and smooth operation of trains on ATC-enabled lines. Its main advantages include making possible the use of cab signalling instead of track-side signals and the use of smooth deceleration patterns in lieu of the...
was installed in 2001.