Rhaetian Railway ABe 4/16 “Capricorn”

In their effort to extend Regional Express services and to retire old locomotives and multiple units, the RhB ordered new ABe 4/16 multiple units in 2015. While part of the “Allegra” family already had the same designation, these were actually a new type with a modified exterior design. The official name given by the RhB is “Capricorn”, what stands for the alpine ibex. Like the first batch of ABe 4/16 sets, they are not intended to haul additional passenger or freight cars, but to make extensive use of multiple working of up to four sets, hence the nickname “Flügelzug”.

Each set consists of four cars of which one contains all traction equipment. Since they are not supposed to operate on the Bernina line, they only have the equipment for 11 kV AC. Starting in 2019, 56 were delivered to the RhB. A second batch of six is to be delivered from the end of 2025. Although their top speed is already relatively high for a metre-gauge vehicle with 120 km/h, one additionally set a speed record for this gauge in July 2022 when it reached 163.02 km/h in the Vereina Tunnel. In October of the same year, 25 sets of this type set a world record for the longest passenger train with a total length of 1,906 m. Since only four sets can operate in multiple, this train had to be controlled by seven drivers.