Talent (train)

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**Talent**
Power type	Diesel or Electric
Diesel-electric Talent in Germany
Designer	Alexander Neumeister
Builder	Bombardier Talbot
Build date	since 1994
Total production	more than 260
UIC classification	B'2'B' B'2'2'B' Bo'2'2'2'Bo'
Length	34,610 – 66,870 mm
Axle load	12.8 – 14.1 t
Total weight	57 – 116 t
Top speed	100 – 140 km/h
Power output	630 kW (diesel-mechanic) 1.100 kW (diesel-electric) 1.520 kW (electric)

The Talent is a multiple unit passenger train manufactured by Bombardier Talbot that was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot shortly before the company was acquired by Bombardier in 1995. The name Talent is an acronym in German for TALbot LEichter Nahverkehrs Triebwagen (in English, Talbot light suburban motor-coach).

It comes in a number of variants, including high-floor, low-floor, diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic, diesel-electric, electric, and tilting, and in lengths of two, three, or four carriages. As with most multiple-unit trains, Talent units can run individually, or be coupled together to form longer trains.

As this Deutsche Bahn unit demonstrates, the interior cabin of a Talent is unobstructed by walls dividing the carriages.

The Talent is an articulated railcar with jacobs bogies. Partially as a result of this, the interior of an entire unit is essentially a single, long cabin; it is possible to see or walk from end to end without opening doors or passing through narrower gangways. The sharing of bogies also means that a Talent unit cannot be easily disassembled or rearranged without the assistance of a railway yard. In those variants whose floor is 590 mm above the rails, this means that the articulation floor is raised, but with ramp access, since it needs to be higher than the wheel diameter, above rail level. in the variants with 800 mm and 960 mm floor height, the floor is flat from the first door to the last. The endsections have a raised floor in all variants, because the traction equipment stored underneath requires more space than unpowered bogies.

After a prototype was presented in 1994, the first Talents entered service in 1996. They are used by mainline railways in Germany, Austria and Norway. In a more unusual use, three diesel Talents form the fleet of Ottawa’s O-Train pilot project for public rail transport, though as the system was to expanded following the project’s success, they were to be replaced with electric trams suitable for use on city streets. This project has been effectively cancelled.

[edit] Operators

Two Bombardier Talent BR643 low-floor diesel multiple unit trains that are part of the O-Train prototype line in Ottawa Canada

The interior of an O-Train’s carriage.

Germany
- DB Regio
  - DB Regio NRW
  - DB Regio Südwest
  - Euregiobahn
- Connex (Veolia Verkehr)
  - Nord-Ostsee-Bahn
  - NordWestBahn
  - Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn
  - Ostmecklenburgische Eisenbahn
  - Bayerische Oberlandbahn
- eurobahn (Rhenus Keolis)
- PE Arriva
- Regiobahn
Austria
- ÖBB
Canada
- Ottawa O-Train
Norway
- Norges Statsbaner(15 2-car sets in service)
Hungary
- MÁV (10 in service soon)