| Talent | |
|---|---|
Diesel-electric Talent in Germany |
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| Manufacturer | Bombardier Talbot design by Alexander Neumeister |
| Number built | more than 830 |
| Specifications | |
| Train length | 34.61–66.87 m (113 ft 7 in–219 ft 5 in) |
| Maximum speed | 100–140 km/h (62–87 mph) |
| Weight | 57-116t axleload 12.8-14.1t |
| Traction system | Diesel or Electric |
| Power output | 630 kW (840 hp) (diesel-mechanical) 1,100 kW (1,500 hp) (diesel-electric) 1,520 kW (2,040 hp) (electric) |
| UIC classification | B'2'B' B'2'2'B' Bo'2'2'2'Bo' |
The Talent is a multiple unit railcar manufactured by Bombardier that was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot in Aachen shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name Talent is an acronym in German for TALbot LEichter Nahverkehrs Triebwagen (in English, Talbot light suburban motor-coach).
It comes in a number of variants, including high-floor, low-floor, diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic, diesel-electric, electric, and tilting, and in lengths of two, three, or four carriages. As with most multiple-unit trains, Talent units can run individually, or be coupled together to form longer trains.
The Talent is an articulated railcar with jacobs bogies. Partially as a result of this, the interior of an entire unit is essentially a single, long cabin; it is possible to see or walk from end to end without opening doors or passing through narrower gangways. The sharing of bogies also means that a Talent unit cannot be easily disassembled or rearranged without the assistance of a railway yard. In those variants whose floor is 590 mm above the rails, this means that the articulation floor is raised, but with ramp access, since it needs to be higher than the wheel diameter, above rail level. in the variants with 800 mm and 960 mm floor height, the floor is flat from the first door to the last. The endsections have a raised floor in all variants, because the traction equipment stored underneath requires more space than unpowered bogies.
After a prototype was presented in 1994, the first Talents entered service in 1996. They are used by mainline railways in Germany, Austria and Norway. More than 260 are in service worldwide.
In a more unusual use, three diesel Talents identical to Deutsche Bahn’s class 643 form the fleet of Ottawa’s O-Train, a pilot project for public rail transport which was to have given way to electric trams suitable for use on city streets until the cancellation of planned extension to the eight-kilometre line. As the Talent is not certified for concurrent shared-track operation with freight trains in North America, freight traffic is not permitted on the O-Train’s route while passenger services are running. Although it is still legally classified as a main-line railway, Transport Canada allow the O-Train to use One-Person Train Operation, with fares collected through a proof-of-payment system.
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