DB Class 403

This article is about the EMU built in the 1970s. For the 3rd generation ICE, see ICE 3.

DB Class 403
Number(s):	ET 403/404 001–003
Quantity:	3
Manufacturer:	LHB, MBB, AEG, BBC, Siemens
Year(s) of manufacture:	1972
Retired:	1993
Axle arrangement:	Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo'
Gauge:	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Service weight:	235.7 t (232.0 long tons; 259.8 short tons)
Top speed:	220 km/h (140 mph)
Power output (continuous):	3,840 kW
Starting tractive effort:	200kN
Electric system:	15 kV 16 2/3 Hz AC
Collection method:	Catenary
No. of traction motors:	4 per waggon
Drive:	Quill
Brakes:	Discs
Train protection:	SiFa, LZB, AFB, Indusi
Couplers:	Scharfenberg
Seats:	183

The DB Class 403 was a series of three electric multiple units commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the 1970s, an early predecessor of the Intercity-Express as a high-speed train. The units were mainly used for InterCity services and again by the Lufthansa airline in the 1980s. Due to their distinct design of the front section, they were nicknamed "Donald Duck". They were designed for operation speeds of up to 220 km/h, a speed which was also attained in extensive test drives, but they were limited to 200 km/h in regular DB service.

InterCity

The first train was handed over to DB on March 2, 1973 and the class composed of four separately driven cars saw its first use as an InterCity service in the 1974/1975 schedule, mainly on the line between Bremen and Munich. Due to the lack of suitable high-speed tracks the trains were barely able to reach their maximum velocity and soon were found prohibitive and impractical. They were removed from IC services in 1979 and replaced by Class 111 locomotives, when the IC '79 scheme introduced the 2nd class on previously 1st class-only IC services.

Lufthansa Airport Express

In 1982 the ET 403 were recommissioned as the Lufthansa Airport Express, a shuttle service connecting the airports of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt along the picturesque West Rhine Railway via Bonn Hauptbahnhof.^[1] Usage ended in 1993 due to increasing corrosion of the aluminium sheets. All trains were finally sold by the Deutsche Bahn in 2001 and have fallen into disrepair. The technical concept of separately driven cars was resumed in the design of the ICE 3, also classified as Class 403.

Gallery

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  1975 with original paint

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  In the dining car, 1988

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  In the driver's cabin, 1988

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  Scrapped 403 001 at Putlitz, 2007

References

1. ^ Allen, Geoffrey Freeman (1983). Railways of the twentieth century, Sidgwick and Jackson, p. 212. ISBN 0283987693

External links

Media related to DB Class 403 at Wikimedia Commons