Germany: The historic four-car set, built in the 1960s, is currently undergoing trial runs. In late April, it covered around 250 km between Halberstadt and Leipzig, reaching a speed of 140 km/h.
Non-profit organisation SVT Görlitz, which is leading the project, expects to obtain all the necessary approvals for operation on Germany’s rail network within a year, and to begin carrying passengers in late 2026. Looking further ahead, the heritage train is also to be certified for operation in Sweden.
In 2019, SVT Görlitz launched an initiative to restore the train, which belongs to the Nuremberg Transport Museum, to running condition. The project was named Zug für Mitteldeutschland (literally, train for central Germany). According to the organisers, the heavy overhaul took seven years and required more than 80,000 person-hours of volunteer work. Around €5 mln has been raised from public and commercial investors, including over €1 mln from individual donors.
The VT 18.16 trains (later renumbered Class 175) were built by Waggonbau Görlitz and operated by Deutsche Reichsbahn, the GDR state operator, mainly on international services to Prague, Karlovy Vary, Vienna, Copenhagen and Malmö. Their then-impressive top speed of 160 km/h, distinctive streamlined styling and high passenger comfort earned the trains the nickname “the East German ICE” among rail enthusiasts.
The VT 18.16 can be made up of four, five or six cars, with head motor cars. A twelve-cylinder 12 KVD 18/21 diesel engine rated at 736 kW and a Voith L 306 RT hydromechanical transmission are mounted directly on the end bogie, which has an extended wheelbase of 4 m. The driver’s cab sits directly above the engine compartment. The cars are joined by rigid drawbar couplings. The driving motor cars contain 2nd-class seating and a mail-and-luggage compartment (between the saloon and the engine compartment). The intermediate cars carry 1st-class saloons, passenger compartments and a dining area. Total seating capacity is 153.
