The RegioSprinter is a German diesel railcar built by Siemens-Duewag for rapid regional railway services. Originally the RegioSprinter was designated as a Regional Combustion-engined Railbus by Duewag AG. Developed as prototypes for fast regional railway services on the plains, the RegioSprinter still has the fastest acceleration of any multiple unit or railbus in Germany. Due to several technical and conceptual defects, however, only very few were built. Based on their experience with the Regiosprinter Siemens developed its successor, the Desiro, which was initially marketed as the Regiosprinter 2. In 1999, all the Vogtlandbahn vehicles were converted to meet tramway regulations, in order to be able to transfer to a tram line in the centre of Zwickau.
Design
The vehicles are designed with three sections. In the two, single-axled end modules are the driver's cabs and the drive units like those on trams. In the middle is a twin-axled, unmotored module. Two thirds of the vehicle has a low floor. The seats are arranged in a 2+3 configuration, there is no toilet due to the short journey distances envisaged. Late the Vogtlandbahn had to fit all its vehicles with toilets, because otherwise cross-border services to the Czech Republic would not have been possible.
In 1995 the Dürener Kreisbahn bought a total of 17 RegioSprinter for the Rurtalbahn, which were deployed to the two sections of line radiating from Düren, replacing the Uerdingen railbuses. Today, RegioSprinter are used on the following lines:
From 1996 the Vogtlandbahn bought a total of 18 vehicles for use on the lines from Zwickau to Adorf/Vogtl. and Reichenbach im Vogtl. to Klingenthal. Because the completion of these routes was repeatedly delayed after their refurbishment, the new vehicles initially worked the line from Zwickau to Bad Brambach. At present the railbuses are in services on the following Vogtlandbahn lines:
Until the timetable change in December 2006 the Vogtlandbahn's RegioSprinters were also on duty on the VB 7 line between Schönberg/Vogtland and Schleiz West. Services on this route were withdrawn on 9 December 2006 by the local public transport company of the free state of Thuringia. Moreover, in 2006 two of the railbuses were hired to the Prignitz railway, which used them on their lines in the western Ruhrgebiet due to a shortage of stock.
In 1999 the Nærumbanen in the Copenhagen area bought four RegioSprinter railbuses and deployed them on the line between Nærum and Jægersborg. Since 2002 operations have been run by Lokalbanen A/S, which took over several smaller railway companies in the Copenhagen area. The railbuses were owned at the time by the Hovedstadens Lokalbaner, which hired them to the LB.
Since 2016, 15 units were purchased and operated by a Czech private operator GW Train Regio, who operated the route Karlovy Vary – Mariánské Lázně since 2006 with Regiosprinter units rented from Vogtlandbahn. Purchased units were refurbished by Czech company CZ Loko, with new seats Borcad REGIO+, a new accessible toilet, air conditioning, WiFi, power outlets for passengers. Since September 2016 are operated on route Karlovy Vary – Mariánské Lázně and since December 2017 11 units are operated on Šumava local lines České Budějovice – Černý Kříž, Číčenice – Nové Údolí and Strakonice – Volary. It seems to be the biggest fleet of Regiosprinters at the moment. One unit was damaged beyond repair after the frontal crash with another train on May 3rd 2018. While the 628 unit was returned to the service, the Regiosprinter was left to be used for spare parts and another unit was from bought from Rurtalbahn, sent for the same upgrade as previous units to refill the fleet.
In 1996 Calgary Transit experimented with a new commuter rail service from Anderson station to a temporary station at 162 Ave. The RegioSprinters operated on a CP rail line adjacent to the LRT rails today. Service ended in 2001 with the opening of the line extension which served from Anderson station to Somerset-Bridlewood station. Somerset-Bridlewood station is approximately 500m south of the original 162 Ave Station.
