Buy Railroad X Berlin S-Bahn BR 481 PC key

Railroad X Berlin S-Bahn BR 481 adds the DB class 481/482 electric railcar, designed for conductor rail operation and used on the S-Bahn Berlin. It is the network’s latest design and currently its most widely used version.

Development

After German reunification in 1990, representatives of Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe and Deutsche Reichsbahn joined forces to define specifications for a new class. A mock-up was presented to the public in 1993, and the first 100 trains were commissioned that year.

The new trains were intended to replace a fleet made up mainly of the pre-war classes 475, 476 and 477, whose average age exceeded 40 years. Classes 480 in West Berlin and 485 in East Berlin had been acquired between 1986 and 1992, but did not meet the new requirements for operation and comfort.

Train design

The design replaced the old quarter-train concept with a return to half-train configurations. The railcars use polyphase motors and AEG GEATRAC controls. At the end of 1993, the Ministry of Traffic ordered the floor height lowered from 1,080 mm to 1,000 mm.

The first quarter train was presented at a ceremonial rollout at the main plant in Schöneweide in 1996. From then on, 60 quarter trains were delivered each year, with the 500th and final quarter train celebrated on September 30, 2004.