Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Germany, Spain,
China, Russia and Turkey. In the future these trains are also to be used in
Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Velaro is based on the
ICE 3M/F high-speed trains manufactured by Siemens for Deutsche Bahn.
Deutsche Bahn were the first to order Siemens high speed trains. The Deutsche
Bahn ordered 13 of these units in 1994, the NS four units. The trains were
delivered in 1999 for service. The trains were labelled and marketed as the
Velaro by their manufacturer, Siemens. Siemens developed its Siemens Velaro
based on the ICE 3M/F. Spain's RENFE was the first to order Velaro trains, known
as Velaro E, for their AVE network. Wider versions were ordered by China for
the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail and Russia for the Moscow–Saint Petersburg
and the Moscow–Nizhny Novgorod routes. Since December 2013, the latest
generation, Velaro D has been running in its home country, Germany.
In July 2006 a Siemens Velaro train-set reached 403.7 km/h. At that time, this
was the world record for railed and unmodified commercial service trainsets.
ICE 3 The Velaro is a further development of
the ICE 3 family of high-speed EMUs built for Deutsche Bahn. Types are the
ICE 3 for domestic ICE service and ICE 3M, where the 'M' stands for Mehrsystem,
for international service. The ICE 3M can run on four different railway
electrification systems in use on Europe's main lines and supports various
train security systems. Deutsche Bahn ordered 13 of these units in 1994, the
NS four designed to run between the German and Dutch rail networks. The
latter trains carry NS logos but DB and NS operate the trains together as a
pool. As of 2007, six modified trains designated ICE 3 MF, became licensed for
operation in France. On the French LGV Est, these trains run at a top speed of
320 km/h. Velaro E
Velaro E is a Spanish version of the Velaro family. In 2001, RENFE ordered
sixteen Velaros designated AVE Class 103. The order was later increased to a
total of 26 trains. The trains serve the 621 km Barcelona–Madrid line at speeds
up to 310 km/h for a travel time of 2 hrs 30 mins.
The first units were delivered in July 2005 and completed their first test runs
in January 2006. On 15 July 2006, a train achieved a top
speed of 403.7 km/h between Guadalajara and Calatayud on the Madrid–Zaragoza
line. This is a Spanish record for railed vehicles. Until 3 December 2010
it was also a world record for unmodified commercial service trainsets,
as the earlier TGV and ICE records were achieved with specially modified and
shortened trainsets, and the Shinkansen record was for a test trainset.
Velaro CN Velaro CRH3C is a Chinese version of the
Velaro. In November 2005, China ordered 60 trains for the Beijing–Tianjin
Intercity Railway. The eight-car trains are very similar to Spain's Velaro E,
but 300 mm wider to fit in almost 50% more seats in a 2 plus 3 layout. In the
CRH3C version, a 200-metre-long Velaro train will seat 600 passengers. These
trains were manufactured jointly by Siemens in Germany and CNR Tangshan in
China. The first Chinese-built CRH3C was unveiled on 11 April 2008.
CRH3C reached a top speed of 394.3 km/h during a test on the Beijing to Tianjin
high-speed railway on 24 June 2008. Velaro RUS
Velaro RUS is part of the Velaro family built for Russia. On 19 May 2006 Siemens
announced an order from Russian Railways for eight Velaro RUS high-speed trains
including a 30-year service contract. The contract is in total worth €600
million. The trains, connecting Moscow with Saint Petersburg, and later also
Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod at a speed of up to 250 km/h, are based on the ICE3
train standard but with bodies widened by 33 cm to 3.265 m to take advantage of
Russia's standard loading gauge. They are also built to the 1,520 mm Russian
track gauge, unlike other Velaro EMUs. Four of the trains are for both 3 kV DC
and 25 kV 50 Hz AC operation. The total length of each ten-car train is 250 m,
carrying up to 600 passengers. Development and construction were
carried out at Erlangen and Krefeld in Germany. Single-voltage EVS1 trains
entered passenger service at the end of 2009 on the Moscow–St Petersburg route,
and the dual-system EVS2 trains entered service on the Nizhniy Novgorod route in
2010. It set a record for the fastest train in
Russia on 2 May 2009, travelling at 281 km/h and on 7 May 2009, travelling at
290 km/h. On December 19, 2011, an order for an
additional 8 sets was signed in order to facilitate an increased number of
services on existing lines and the expansion of new service elsewhere in
the system. Velaro D
Velaro D is specifically designed for Deutsche Bahn international services
from Germany. Designated DB's Class 407, it is designed to run at speeds up to
320 km/h and comply with Technical Specifications for Interoperability and
enhanced crashworthiness requirements. There are fire-proof equipment rooms and
fire doors between cars. Velaro D is designed to be quieter and more reliable
than the ICE 3. The train is also expected to use up to
20% less energy than previous versions of ICE. This is achieved in part by
improved body styling. It does not have the ICE3's panorama lounge where
passengers in the end coaches can see the tracks over the driver's shoulder.
The Class 407 has 460 seats: 111 in first class, 333 in second class and 16
in the bistro car. In total this is 37 more seats than the ICE 3, even though
the seat pitch is unchanged. This is achieved by putting the traction
equipment in compartments at either end of the train instead of hiding it behind
panels the length of the train. Unlike all previous ICE versions, the passenger
seating is all open-plan and there are no compartments.
The eight-coach Class 407 trains can couple up and work with their Class 403
and Class 406 predecessors. Eight of the 16 bogies per train are powered, and
there are four independent sets of traction equipment per train: if two of
them break down, the train can still run. For full international flexibility
across Europe, it can function on any of four voltages. The fleet will be based
in Frankfurt. In December 2008 Deutsche Bahn signed a
€500 million order for 15 trainsets. The train's production stages were presented
to the press in Krefeld on 28 April 2010, and three completed cars were
displayed by Siemens on 22 September 2010 at InnoTrans. In June 2011,
Deutsche Bahn ordered an additional Velaro D set in order to replace an
ICE3MF set damaged in an accident in August 2010.
Velaro D was meant to go into service starting December 2011 on services from
Frankfurt to southern France via the new LGV Rhin-Rhône, and subsequently within
Germany and on other international services to France, Belgium, Switzerland
and the Netherlands. Due to a series of delays in manufacturing and licensing no
Velaro D trainsets were in service as of November 2012 and there was no schedule
for their delivery. Only in December 2013 the first four trains delivered to
DB were licensed for domestic operation as multiple units and started with
passenger traffic. Four more trains are due to be delivered in spring 2014,
whereas the remainder of eight trains shall be used for test runs in France
and Belgium to gain type approval there. The specification of the Velaro D allows
its access to the Channel Tunnel, enabling DB to use it on the services it
plans to operate from London to Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Deutsche Bahn
submitted safety documentation for the operation of Velaro D high speed
trainsets through the Channel Tunnel to the Intergovernmental Commission in July
2011, which in June 2013 granted a licence for passenger trains to DB.
In 2012 and 2013, Siemens discussed with Deutsche Bahn the delivery of one more
Velaro D set, free of charge, as compensation for the delivery and
certification delays. This train was originally build for test purposes and
features a different propulsion setup, utilizing permanent magnet AC
synchronous motors as opposed to the traditional AC asynchronous motors.
Siemens stated that this will allow a reduction in the number of propulsion
units per train, while still maintaining train performance.
Velaro e320 On 7 October 2010, it was reported that
Eurostar had selected Siemens as preferred bidder to supply 10 Velaro
e320 trainsets at a cost of €600 million to operate an expanded route network,
including services from London to Cologne and Amsterdam. These would be
sixteen-car, 400-metre long trainsets built to meet current Channel Tunnel
regulations, and would not be the same as the Velaro D sets which Deutsche Bahn
propose to operate services between Germany and London. The top speed will
be 320 km/h and they will have 894-950 seats, unlike the current Eurostar fleet
manufactured by the French Alstom, which has a top speed of 300 km/h and a
seating capacity of 750. Total traction power will be rated at 16 MW. On the
British system they are classified as Class 374 units.
Velaro TR The Velaro TR is a Velaro D derived
8-car standard gauge high-speed train for the Turkish State Railways. The
eight cars, totalling a length of 200 m, can accommodate 516 passengers and have
a 300 km/h top speed. 25 kV 50 Hz AC power the train with a total of 8 MW.
Turkish State Railways placed an order for seven Velaro high-speed trainsets in
July 2013. The contract is worth €285m, including seven years of maintenance.
The Velaros are to be deployed on the Turkish high-speed railway network. The
first Siemens Velaro TR entered service on 23 May 2015 between Ankara-Konya.
Unlike the traditional white - red - dark blue color scheme used on the TCDD
HT65000 high-speed trainsets, a white - turquoise - grey color scheme has been
selected for the livery of TCDD's Velaro TR trainsets.
Gallery See also
List of high-speed trains References
External links Velaro Background
Velaro Sell Sheet; archived Updated Velaro Sell Sheet
Velaro E specification sheet; download, archived
Siemens Velaro RUS Sell Sheet Velaro CN Data Sheet; archived
Velaro developmental history and technical details Siemens Page
Velaro D Technical details Siemens Page More Velaro D Tech details
Velaro e320 technical specifications Interactive 360° virtual tour of the
Velaro E