Switzerland: One of the three-car narrow-gauge Orion EMUs has been fitted with the v+ technology and tested on the 3.7 km Andermatt–Göschenen section with gradients of up to 181‰. The fleet of the Orions was earlier delivered by the manufacturer to the Swiss operator Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn.
The integrated solution has allowed for increasing the maximum downhill speed from 21 to 30 km/h. According to Stadler, this is the world-fastest result among all the existing cogwheel trains.
New braking system for rack-and-pinion trains from Stadler. Source: Stadler
The project received financial support from the Swiss government. Thanks to the new technology, the travel time is reportedly reduced from 15 to 11 minutes, which makes it possible for the service to be operated by fewer trainsets.
The Swiss manufacturer plans to equip the whole Orion fleet with the v+ braking system. 11 out from 12 vehicles have already been supplied to MGBahn under a 2020 contract, with a further 25 trains to be delivered according to another contract, signed in November 2023.
