The locomotive end of a Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Graz station.
Last winter, VIA Rail Canada ordered 32 new trainsets from Siemens for its Windsor – Toronto – Ottawa – Montreal – Quebec City corridor. These trainsets will completely replace the current rolling stock on this line. The new trainsets will be almost identical to the Railjet trainsets operated by the Austrian and Czech railroads throughout Central Europe and also produced by Siemens. I had a chance to ride Railjets a couple dozen times last summer, so here is more information about these trainsets.
The cab-car end of a Railjet trainset in the Czech colors at Vienna’s Main station.
Railjets are operated in the push-pull mode, and there is a locomotive at one end and a cab car at the other. While the locomotive can be decoupled and replaced easily, all cars are semi-permanently coupled in each trainset, with hermetically insulated gangways between them. Train orientation is always fixed and same: The locomotive always pulls when going westward through Vienna and always pushes when going eastward through Vienna. While European Railjets are hauled by the electric Siemens
Taurus locos, VIA Rail trainsets will be hauled by the diesel Siemens
Charger locomotives similar to those throughout Midwest.
Semi-permanently coupled cars with an insulated gangway between them. Note the retractable step at the bottom.
Each European Railjet has 7 cars, one of which is a cab car. Typically, there is one first class car, one café/restaurant car, and five second class cars (known as “coaches” in the U.S.). The trainsets ordered by VIA Rail will have a smaller number of cars: only 5 cars each. Thus, the overall number of Siemens cars ordered by VIA is 160, almost double the Amtrak Midwest order. The length of each car is 26.5 m (87 feet).
A seven-car Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Graz station.
A seven-car Railjet trainset in the Czech colors at the Graz station.
The European trainsets can be operated in a formation of two (i.e. 2 engines and 14 cars), reaching the overall length of 410 m (more than a quarter mile). Importantly, station infrastructure allows operation of such long trains, and platform length exceeds 410 m at all major stations. Train doors are automatic, and all doors open at all stations, speeding up alighting and boarding significantly. Two trainsets can be coupled and decoupled en route easily, which is done on regular basis at major junction stations in under 10 minutes.
Signs at the end of a platform in St. Pölten indicating the cab stop of 410-meter trains.
The entire platform is more than a quarter mile long.
The trainsets are rated for the maximal speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). I have personally ridden a Railjet in passenger operation at 220 km/h (137 mph) on the Westbahn line in Austria. The power output of each electric
Taurus loco is 6.4 MW (8600 hp), i.e. almost double that of each diesel
Charger loco in Midwest (4400 hp). Other technical characteristics of Railjets can be found
here.
The locomotive end of a Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Graz station.
The cab-car end of a Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Vöcklabruck station.
The locomotive end of a Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Villach station.
The cab-car end of a Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Graz station.
The locomotive end of a Railjet trainset in the Austrian colors at the Villach station.
The vast majority of European Railjets are owned by the Austrian Railways (ÖBB), and several are owned by the Czech Railways (ČD). Austrian trainsets and locomotives are colored in bright red and dark red, while Czech trainsets and locomotives are in light blue and dark blue, but all are technically similar.
The cab-car end of a Railjet trainset in the Czech colors at Vienna’s Main station.
A Taurus locomotive in the Czech colors at Vienna’s Main station.
The cab-car end of a Railjet trainset in the Czech colors at Prague’s Main station.
Some ÖBB trainsets are in darker colors. The locomotive end of a Railjet trainset in darker colors at the Salzburg station.
The cab-car end of an ÖBB Railjet trainset in darker colors at the Linz station.
All long-distance services in Austria and many international routes to neighboring countries are now operated with Railjets, for example:
Munich – Salzburg – Vienna – Budapest
Zurich – Innsbruck – Salzburg – Vienna – Vienna’s Airport
Prague – Brno – Vienna – Graz
Vienna – Villach – Venice
Few trains terminate at Vienna’s Main station. Instead, most operate
through the station, taking advantage of the through tracks at the new Main station completed in 2015. This is extremely good for capacity, as each train takes track space at the station for only 5-10 minutes, and the station is not used as a train parking lot. As a result, Vienna’s Main station manages to accommodate more passenger trains
per hour than the entire State of Michigan
per week.
Passenger rail routes operated with Railjets. Full size (3524 × 3444).
Notably, Railjet cars have excellent seats: not too hard, not too soft, at just the right height. As a result, travel in Railjets takes much lesser toll on one’s back than travel in Amtrak seats, which are too soft and too low above the floor. When purchasing a ticket, one can reserve a specific seat for only 3 euros. The seat diagram provided on the website allows one to select the seat they prefer: window or aisle, forward facing or backward facing, on the left side of the train or on its right side. Since train orientation is fixed, one is guaranteed the desired orientation of their seat as well. Over the two dozen trips I made on Railjets last summer, not a single train had a different orientation from the one advertised during seat purchase. This ability to reserve a specific seat is a far cry from the humiliating and degrading need to stand in a long line in order to get a seat of choice on an Amtrak train.
The interior of a Czech second-class quiet car.
The interior of an Austrian second-class quiet car.
Each trainset has a quiet car in its second-class portion. I observed on a few occasions that conductors actually maintain the quiet environment. Once a conductor pointed out to two teenagers, who argued relatively loudly, that this was a quiet car. A few times conductors asked someone talking on the phone to hang up or to move to another car. As a result, the ride in a quiet car was actually quiet, even in an almost full car.
The interior of a first-class car.
Overall, Railjets are excellent trainsets, modern and very pleasant. I think VIA Rail made a prudent decision to go ahead with a proven European design, especially such a good one. I can attest that these are some of the best passenger rail cars available on the market, and I am looking forward to riding these trainsets on the Canadian Corridor.
Update 1: Railjet service between Prague and Berlin indicated on the above map began on June 15, 2020.
Update 2: Amtrak ordered 83 similar integrated trainsets from Siemens in summer 2021. They will be operated on the Northeast Corridor and various state-supported routes in the Northeast as well as on the Cascades. The number of cars per each trainset has not been reported yet.
