4th Generation unit in use by Deutsche Bahn

The Bombardier Double-deck Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently manufactured by Alstom, which acquired Bombardier Transportation in 2021 (and before that by Adtranz and DWA/Waggonbau Görlitz) used by various European railways and Israel Railways. The current generation of double-deck coaches can be run at speeds up to 200 km/h (125 mph). Depending on their configuration, each coach can seat 100 to 150 passengers.

History

The ancestry of these coaches can be traced back to the LBE double-deck coaches (de:Doppelstock-Stromlinien-Wendezug der LBE) built by WUMAG at Görlitz for the Lübeck–Büchen–Hamburg railway in 1935–36. They were push-pull trains with a cab car that could control the steam locomotive at the other end of the train.

After World War II, these coaches were developed further by VEB Waggonbau Görlitz (formerly WUMAG) into double-deck trains of two to five articulated cars sharing bogies, known as "Doppelstock(glieder)züge" (de:Gliederzug (Schiene)). Like the successor 1st generation units, many of these coaches were sold to several railways in the Eastern Bloc, such as in Romania where they are still operated as TE Acvila coaches.^[1][2] Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany now opted only for single level coaches and multiple units until its purchase of the 2nd generation Class 760 double-deck coaches in the early-1990s.

Starting in 1974, single coaches were built again that were the direct ancestors of today's double-deck coaches. These trainsets were used by Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) as well as several other railways of the Eastern Bloc in large numbers (about 4000). After 1990, VEB Waggonbau Görlitz became part of Deutsche Waggonbau AG (DWA) which was acquired by Bombardier Transportation in 1998. Bombardier Inc. sold their railway division to Alstom in 2021.

• 
  An articulated five-unit Doppelstockgliederzug rake hauled by DR Class 22 032 (circa 1964)
• 
  A DR Doppelstockgliederzüg four-unit push-pull^[3] rake on an Erfurt S-Bahn service (May 1976)
• 
  A ČSD Bpjo-type four-unit rake at Praha Smíchov (circa 1991)
• 
  A DR DGBgqe-type control car from a 1971 five-unit Doppelstockgliederzug rake at Rochlitz (1993)
• 
  A PKP/Polregio rake of Bhp-type (pl; formerly Bipa) coaches at Czersk (September 2008)

First Generation

Built 1973–1974 and 1976–1991, sold to East Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia. In Czech Republic also known as UIC type Bmto292 (cz) and in Poland as UIC type Bmnopux/Bmteeo (pl; formerly type Bdhpumn), also nicknamed "bohun". Some German units were refurbished with 4th generation headshapes in the 2000s, some Polish units refurbished by Pesa Bydgoszcz from 2003–2009 and some Czech units refurbished 2001–2022.

• 
  DR 1. Generation Doppelstockwagen rake in Calau (January 1997)
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  PKP/Polregio Bmnopux-type carriages at Poznań Główny (October 2008)
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  ČD Bmto292-type carriage at Brno hl.n (June 2010)
• 
  Refurbished Class 778 Doppelstockwagen rake with 4. Generation headshape in Klieken (May 2013)

Second Generation

Built 1992–1993 for Germany (Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn), later named DB Class 760.

• 
  2. Generation Doppelstockwagen on first delivery (January 1993)
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  2. Generation Doppelstockwagen in DB Verkehrsrot colours on a Rostock S-Bahn service (July 2013)

Sleeping cars (Doppelstockschlafwagen)

Built 1992–1995 by DWA, Schindler Waggon, SIG Graz and Waggonfabrik Talbot for CityNightLine AG, also partially licensed NS DD-AR design from Talbot.

Two variants were built:

• WLBmz-type carriage consisting of 9 standard sleeping compartments on the upper deck and 8 standard sleeping compartments plus two 3-berth (originally 4-berth) compartments on the lower deck, all with washbasins inside compartments and shared toilets at each end of said carriage;
• WLABmz-type carriage consisting of 4 deluxe compartments with en-suite toilets and shower plus 1 standard sleeping compartment with washbasin inside compartment on the upper deck, and 8 standard sleeping compartments plus two 3-berth (originally 4-berth) compartments on the lower deck, with washbasins inside compartments and shared toilets at each end of said carriage.

All units were transferred to City Night Line of Deutsche Bahn in 2007 and then to ÖBB Nightjet in December 2016. As of 2023, the Doppelstockschlafwagen are mainly used on the routes Vienna–Zurich and Zurich–Hamburg.^[4]

• 
  Exterior of a City Night Line WLBmz-type Doppelstockschlafwagen (sleeping compartments side) at Mannheim Hbf (March 2010)
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  Exterior of a ÖBB Nightjet WLBmz-type Doppelstockschlafwagen (passenger corridor side) at Hamburg-Altona (February 2017)
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  Passenger corridor of a ÖBB Nightjet WLBmz-type Doppelstockschlafwagen
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  Second class Eco sleeping cabin on lower deck
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  Deluxe sleeping compartment on upper deck (WLABmz only) with en-suite toilet and shower

Third Generation

Built 1994–1997 under the DWA brand for Germany (Deutsche Bahn).

• 
  3. Generation Doppelstockwagen in Gießen

Fourth Generation

Built since 1997 and sold under the Bombardier and Alstom brands to railways in Germany, Denmark, Israel and others.

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  DB 4. Generation Doppelstockwagen at Berlin Hbf (tief)
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  Israel Railways unit at Tel Aviv Savidor Central
• 
  DSB unit at Østerport

Fifth Generation

In 2008, Bombardier presented the "Dosto 2010" future family of double-deck trains for the German market. For international sales they were branded as Bombardier TWINDEXX with a "Vario" concept (then called TWINDEXX Vario) that allows these trains to be built for regional or intercity connections with a design speed of 189 km/h and an operational speed of up to 160 km/h. Deutsche Bahn and other German operators currently operate 404 TWINDEXX Vario carriages, classified as DBAG Class 445/446, which entered service in 2017 after a delay of three years, replacing many locomotive-hauled rakes.^[5] Israel Railways has also ordered 443 TWINDEXX Vario carriages between 2010 and 2019 to support its expanding rail network, the last of which was delivered in December 2021.^[6]

The high-speed rail versions are branded TWINDEXX Express, designed for 230 km/h. A tilting EMU variant of the Twindexx with an operational speed of up to 200 km/h is developed for the Swiss Federal Railways named SBB RAB(D)e 502, nicknamed FV-Dosto and informally called TWINDEXX Swiss Express. Orders have been placed in the range of a few hundred coaches of the different variants with their initial delivery originally to be around 2013, then delayed to 2015–2017 and eventually 2018–2022, depending on the variant. These delays have been attributed to the need to redesign the trains to properly comply with Swiss disability access legislation after a lawsuit was filed against Bombardier and SBB by two Swiss disability-rights organisations at the Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland in 2012, as well as problems with the composting toilet tanks^[7][8] and the tilting mechanisms.^[9] In 2022, SBB decided to permanently discontinue the use of the tilting mechanism on their FV-Dosto trains.^[10]

The National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) has similarly ordered TWINDEXX-derived intercity trains designated as M7 in 2018, constructed at the former BN factory at Bruges, which entered service in January 2020.

In 2007, Koleje Mazowieckie of Poland signed a contract for the delivery of 37 Twindexx Vario wagons (11 steering and 26 trailing wagons). The centre wagons were delivered in August and the steering wagons in December 2008. Initially, the wagons were pulled by EU07 locomotives. The wagons are currently operated by Koleje Mazowieckie together with TRAXX P160DC and Pesa Gama locomotives, sometimes also in multiple working with Pesa Sundeck bilevel coaches.^[11]

• 
  test run of tilting double-deck coach pulled by a regular train
• 
  DBAG Class 445/446 at Nürnberg Hbf (June 2019)
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  SBB RABDe 502 tilting double-deck coach TWINDEXX Swiss Express
• 
  Koleje Mazowieckie Twindexx Vario control car

See also

• DB Class 670 – a double-decker diesel railbus manufactured by DWA

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bombardier Double-deck Coach.

External links

• Double-deck trains at Bombardier's official site