VR Class Dm12

Dm12
Dm12 number 4416 at Jyväskylä in 2006.
In service	2005–
Manufacturer	ČKD Vagonka
Constructed	2004–2006
Entered service	2005
Number built	16
Number in service	16
Formation	1 car, length 25,200 mm (82 ft 8 in)
Fleet numbers	4401–4416
Capacity	63
Operator	VR Group
Line(s) served	Joensuu–Nurmes, Iisalmi–Ylivieska, Savonlinna–Parikkala, Tampere–Haapamäki, Karjaa–Hanko
Specifications
Car length	25,200 mm (82 ft 8 in)
Width	2,850 mm (9 ft 4 in)
Height	4,218 mm (13 ft 10.1 in)
Platform height	550 mm (22 in)
Doors	2 + 2
Maximum speed	120 km/h (75 mph)
Weight	48 t (47 long tons; 53 short tons)
Engine(s)	2 x MAN D2876 LUE 606
Power output	2 x 301 kW
Transmission	VOITH
Power supply	Diesel engine
Gauge	1,524 mm (5 ft)

The Dm12 is a diesel railcar operated by VR Group.

History

The national Finnish rail operator VR Group ordered 16 diesel motor cars from the Czech manufacturer ČKD Vagonka, now ČKD Škoda Vagonka, in 2001.

VR was searching a diesel motor car to be used on low traffic regional services on non-electrified tracks years after the last of the earlier diesel motor car series had been decommissioned by the end of 1980s, and diesel locomotive pulled passenger trains had been found to be uneconomical for small-demand services. VR had earlier experimented with converting an old unpowered passenger car into a diesel motor car, but the prototype was never put to service and VR ultimately decided to acquire all-new cars. 16 Dm12 units were delivered in 2004–2006 and they entered commercial service in 2005. The units are used in regional and feeder services mostly in Eastern and Central Finland, but also on the Karjaa-Hanko route near the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The Dm12 is currently the only diesel motor car or DMU in operation in Finland.

The nicknames for the Dm12 are Peräkylän Pendolino (Backwoods' Pendolino), Skoda (after the manufacturer and Demari (from type designation Dm12).

Specifications

At a maximum, three Dm12 units can be coupled into a train to increase capacity. Each car has two passenger compartments, two entrance vestibules and a driver's cabin at each end of the car. The driver cabins have air conditioning. There are two places for wheelchair-using passengers, the unit has lifting platforms for wheelchair access and the toilet is designed to be accessible to the disabled. The heating of the passenger compartments uses waste heat from the diesel engines.^[1]

References

1. ^ "Railcar Class DM12". Škoda Vagonka a.s.. http://www.vagonka.cz/40000.asp?ids=2422. Retrieved 20 June 2011. 

External links

Media related to VR Class Dm12 at Wikimedia Commons

• Dm12 on manufacturer ČDK Škoda Vagonka's pages