SOB Traverso set 526 202 arrives at Flüelen on May 21 with a Zürich to Locarno train via the old Gotthard mountain route.
KEITH FENDER
MULTIPLE new train fleets introduced in the last two years during the Covid-19 pandemic in Switzerland have replaced older, often loco-hauled trains.
While the biggest new fleets are now in use with the major Swiss standard gauge operators, many smaller narrow gauge or mountain rack railways are also taking delivery of new trains. Perhaps not surprisingly, the one thing most of this new rolling stock has in common is that it was built in Switzerland by Stadler.
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) introduced its fleet of 29 Stadler ‘Smile’ 250kph EMUs between 2019 and May 2021. These 11-car articulated trains are the first Stadler has built suitable for high speed operation and are equipped for operation under 15kV/25kV AC and 3kV DC catenary. Whilst Stadler calls them ‘Smile’ = Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug in German (= “Faster multi-system innovative light express train), SBB has branded them ‘Giruno’ which is the word for buzzard in the eastern Swiss Romansch language. In June 2022, SBB ordered seven more ‘Giruno’ trains to be used for international services into Germany from 2026.