Düwag Wadloper is a family of diesel railcars (type DH1, Polish SN82 series) and diesel multiple units (type DH2, Polish SN83 series) produced by the German Düwag plant in Düsseldorf. Between 1981 and 1983, a total of 50 vehicles of this kind were built specifically for the Dutch Nederlandse Spoorwegen railroad. At the beginning of the 21st century, they were mainly operated by private carriers; in 2006 they began to be phased out, and in 2008 they were sold to other countries. The trains went to carriers from Poland, Argentina and Romania. They were operated by Polregio, Masovian Railways and Silesian Railways, and also used by Trenes de Buenos Aires to operate a cross-border service between Argentina and Uruguay. They currently operate services connecting Argentina with Paraguay, and are operated in Poland by SKPL Cargo (mainly in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship), as well as on several lines in Romania.
History
Origins In the early 1970s, Dutch railroads Nederlandse Spoorwegen faced the need to replace a total of 76 Type DE1 diesel railcars and Type DE2 units called Blue Angels (). The operation of these vehicles dating from 1953 to 1955 should have ended in the 1980s, but traffic had to be maintained on the routes they served. In 1976, in view of the situation, a team was formed to resolve the issue of endangered routes. In 1977, it was decided to preserve service on the side lines with new trains that were cheaper to operate.
On February 4, 1978, the carrier hired German unit for two weeks of test runs, after which they began looking for a supplier of new rolling stock. German manufacturers Waggonfabrik Uerdingen and Linke-Hofmann-Busch submitted their bids. The first manufacturer's proposal of Ym wagons was rejected due to outdated design and excessive fuel consumption, while the VT2E vehicles offered by the second factory were dropped because of insufficient parameters and too high a price.
In the end, it was decided to cooperate with Germany's Düwag, which produced the 627 008 vehicle under test. Its parameters were deemed appropriate, and the vehicles for the Dutch carrier were made similar to the Deutsche Bahn railroad's 627 and 628 class cars.
Production Between 1981 and 1982, 31 DH2 two-car sets were produced at the Düwag plant in Düsseldorf, while 19 DH1 wagons were built at the same plant in 1983. The vehicles went to the Dutch railroads Nederlandse Spoorwegen, which named them Wadloper (Dutch for tidal flat wanderer) as a result of a competition held in 1983.
Construction
Specifications DH1DH2Wagon layoutss+sAxis layoutB′2′2′B′+B′2′Train body lengthTotal lengthMaximum widthMaximum heightPlatform heightNumber and light of passenger doors1×2× + 2×Number of seats fixed+reclining56+7 54+7 (after conversion to SN82)148+10 140+10 (after conversion to SN83)Wheel diameterBogie basePivot spacingOuter wheelbaseMassNumber and power of engines1×210 kW2×210 kWFuel supply750 l1500 lMaximum speed100 km/h
Train body The design of the Wadloper family vehicles was similar to the 627 and 628 class. The exterior styling was simplified relative to the prototypes.
Interior
Wagon DH1 has two door vestibules located behind the driver's cabs and one passenger compartment between them. One of the vestibules is larger and is designed to carry bigger luggage and bicycles, while the other vestibule can be used to access the lavatory. The passenger space is equipped with the company's Compin seats, which are arranged in a 2+2 arrangement along a passageway running along the axis of the vehicle.
In both wagons of the DH2 type, one of the cabins was replaced with a pressurized inter-car passage. The door vestibule located next to the eliminated cabin was moved closer to the passageway and, in addition, the width of the entrance door in this vestibule was reduced, which, combined with the unchanged length of the cars, led to an increase in the passenger compartment. In addition, only one of the carriages has a toilet, while the other has been eliminated in favor of seats.
Bounce-and-slide entrance doors with a 1300 mm light in DH1 wagons and 1300 mm and 800 mm in DH2 units are used. Two entrance steps are installed at the door, and in DH1 they are pivoted at a standstill.
The interior is equipped with fluorescent lighting powered by 24 V DC.
Bogies All vehicles of the DH1 and DH2 types are equipped with two-axle bogies. The diameter of all wheels is 840 mm, while the wheelbase is 2000 mm. Each DH1 wagon and each part of the DH2 unit is based on one rolling bogie and one driving bogie.
Power The Wadlopers are powered by Cummins' company engines of the NT 855 R4 type. These are 210 kW internal combustion diesel engines equipped with six cylinders in an in-line arrangement. They use water cooling, which made it possible to reduce the machine's dimensions compared to the engines used in the 627/628 class vehicles. The manufacturer has specified the engines' service life at 15 years.
The engine drives both sets of bogie wheels through a Voith company hydraulic transmission type T211r. Type DH1 wagons have one such engine, while type DH2 units are equipped with two drive units. The fuel reserve of the DH1-type vehicles is 750 liters, while that of the DH2 trainsets is 1,500 liters.
Compared to the prototypes, electronic equipment and magnetic brakes were abandoned. A Knorr brake was installed.
Operation CountryCarrierTypeNumber of unitsLabelYears of operationTotal numberNederlandse Spoorwegen (1981–2002) Connexxion (2002–2006) Arriva (2006–2007) Veolia Transport (2007–2008)DH1193101 ÷ 31191983–200850DH2313201 ÷ 32311981–2008Polregio/Polregio (2010–2012, from 2020) Masovian Railways (2010–2011) Silesian Railways (2012–2014) (from 2018) Lower Silesian Railways (2020–2021)DH13SN82-001 ÷ 0032010–2014 from 201810DH27SN83-001 ÷ 007Trenes de Buenos AiresDH1 ? (15)31xx2011–2012? (25)DH26 (10)32xxTrenes ArgentinosDH22F-1xxfrom 20142Transferoviar CălătoriDH27 (13)78-32xxfrom 20107 (13)
Netherlands
The Wadlopers made their debut in the Netherlands in November 1981 on the Groningen – Delfzijl line, and in March 1982 they were also directed to operate the Groningen – Leeuwarden line, while in May 1982 they began running on the Groningen – Nieuweschans line. They could be found in diagonal traction with DM90-type units, which limited the maximum speed of the combined train to 90 km/h. Servicing of the vehicles took place in Groningen.
In November 1982, there were problems with the electromagnets installed in the bogies, which misread commands and spontaneously changed the settings of the ground safety system devices. The vehicles of both series were then taken out of service and were restored after the issue was resolved in March 1983.
In the 1980s and 1990s, DH1 wagons and DH2 units ran on the Groningen and Leeuwarden outbound lines, and there were plans to divert them to operate the Rotterdam – Zwolle line. There were technical problems at the time, as the existing traffic safety system on this line did not work with the equipment installed in the vehicles, so from January 1992 to January 1994 the Wadlopers were run with 6400-series locomotives.
In 1995, a decision was made to modernize the DH1 and DH2 vehicles. Between February and June 1996, the NS Railway repair shops in Tilburg carried out repairs involving the replacement of seats in the passenger compartments and a change in colors.
In September 2002, the vehicles were taken over by the carrier Connexxion, which changed the vehicles' paint scheme and put them into service on the Almelo – Mariënberg line.
In 2006, the DH1 and DH2 vehicles went to Arriva, which operated with them the lines:
Leeuwarden – Harlingen Haven/Sneek – Stavoren, Leeuwarden – Groningen – Nieuweschans/Roodeschool/Delfzijl.
In 2006, the phasing out of the vehicles began and in 2008 the operation of the DH1 and DH2 in the Netherlands was finally terminated. The trains, which were less than 30 years old, were decided to be sold. The first offer to buy two DH1 wagons and two DH2 units came from Albania. However, the deal fell through, and the vehicles were ordered by a regional carrier from Slovakia. According to the agreement, the rolling stock was to be modernized at the ZNTK Minsk Mazowiecki plant before reaching its new owner, but in the end the two DH vehicles already imported to Poland, numbered 3222 and 3226, remained at the ZNTK site in Paterek, and the two DH1 wagons went to South America. In the meantime, a Czech carrier also made a purchase offer, but eventually vehicles from the Netherlands in a total of 46 units (19 DH1 wagons and 27 DH2 units) went to Poland, Argentina and Romania.
Poland
Wadlopers in Poland Sources:
LabelModernizerYear of modernizationHistory of the ownersHistory of operationStatusDutchPolish3102SN82-001ZNTK Poznań2009Sigma Tabor (2009–2020) (from 2020)Polregio (2010–2012) Silesian Railways (2012–2014) Polregio (from 2021)3105SN82-002ZNTK Paterek2012Sigma Tabor (2008–2019) SKPL Cargo (from 2019)Silesian Railways (2012–2014) Lower Silesian Railways (2020–2021) Polregio (from 2021)3110SN82-003ZNTK Paterek2012Sigma Tabor (2009–2020) SKPL Cargo (from 2020)Silesian Railways (2012–2014) Polregio (from 2021) 3206SN83-001ZNTK Poznań2009Sigma Tabor (2009–2020) SKPL Cargo (from 2020)Polregio (2010–2012) Silesian Railways (2012–2014) 3207SN83-002ZNTK Poznań2009Sigma Tabor (2009–2019) SKPL Cargo (from 2019)Polregio (2010–2012) Silesian Railways (2012–2014)Under repair3231SN83-003ZNTK Poznań2009Sigma Tabor (2009–2013) GPW (2013–2018) SKPL Cargo (from 2018)Polregio (2010–2012) Silesian Railways (2012–2014) Lower Silesian Railways (2020–2021) Polregio (from 2021) 3219SN83-004ZNTK Paterek2010Sigma Tabor (2008–2019) SKPL Cargo (from 2019)Masovian Railways (2010–2011) Polregio (2011–2012) Silesian Railways (2012–2014) Polregio (from 2020) 3222SN83-005ZNTK Paterek2012Sigma Tabor (2008–2020) SKPL Cargo (from 2020)Silesian Railways (2012–2014) Polregio (from 2020) 3225SN83-006H. Cegielski2012Sigma Tabor (2009–2020) SKPL Cargo (from 2020)Silesian Railways (2013–2014) Polregio (from 2023) 3226SN83-007ZNTK Paterek2012Sigma Tabor (2009–2020) SKPL Cargo (from 2020)Silesian Railways (2013–2014) Polregio (from 2022)
In early 2009, Sigma Tabor became interested in the Wadloper vehicles on display. The company, despite the lack of an order for them, wanted to acquire them for lease to domestic carriers. Initially, 17 DH1 wagons and 29 DH2 units were planned to be purchased, but eventually fewer vehicles were delivered to Poland due to the ordering company's financial difficulties. In May, the company purchased the first three vehicles (one DH2 unit and two DH1 wagons), and in July another seven (six DH2 units and one DH1 wagon).
Sigma Tabor commissioned the adaptation of imported vehicles to Polish conditions to the ZNTK Poznań plant, which is part of the Sigma group. As part of the modernization, the interior layout was changed, the seats were replaced, their vandal-resistant upholstery was used, the interior wall coverings, floor coverings and interior lighting were replaced, and air conditioning was installed in the driver's cabs. Hydraulic systems and the installation of forced ventilation for the passenger section were upgraded. New headlights, a fire alarm system and an audible warning signal were installed, as well as automatic train braking, a radio-stop with radio-telephone, a dead man's switch, an electronic speedometer, and tilt steps to enable 300 mm high platforms. After the repair, combined with modernization, polonization and replacement of selected components with new ones, ZNTK Poznań obtained approval of DH1 and DH2 vehicles and estimated their service life at about 10–15 years.
In the first round, the Poznań plant modernized three DH2s and one DH1 vehicle, while more Wadlopers were rebuilt at ZNTK in Paterek. In 2009, the SN83-001 consist was presented at fair in Gdańsk.