866 - the Budd suburban EMU centre car
Prototype information
| These
railcars, the first specifically designed for suburban traffic, were
introduced in 1954 on the lines to the south-east of Paris. They were
maintained at Villeneuve St-George depot. When first introduced they were
two car sets, but all had received a third car at the end of the 1950's to
face the increasing traffic in the Paris area. Equipped with large bogies,
they had cast iron brake blocks and purely mechanical suspension. Their
arrival made it possible to gradually replace the pre-war trains such as
BB 1 to 80 and the South-eastern Inox coaches, the BB 8100 and their
ex-PLM coaches, Z4100 as well as Z3700. After working for a long time in
Villeneuve and Montrouge, they were gradually displaced following the
arrival of the Z 5300's and especially the Z2N 5600's in the 1980's. Thus,
they migrated to Tours where they were again up against the Z2 class,
which could run at up to 160 km/h. The arrival of the BB9600's and the RIO
90 push pull sets to work the shuttles in 1991 accelerated the rate of
withdrawal of the Z 5100 class. They were not fitted with the KVB safety
system, as their life expectancy was not considered sufficient. The six
last railcars of the series worked on the route between Puteaux-Issy and
Plaine (which was electrified by 3rd rail) where they could operate for a
further ten years, until 1993. The class disappeared almost completely
from the area in 1996. The two last still in service in 1998 (Z 5119 and
5137) operated the last shuttles between Orleans and Aubrais and into St-Cyr
in Valley, before disappearing completely from the route on September 11,
1998.
Their removal from the French railway landscape marked the beginning of the decline of the Inox trains their duties being taken over by the new generation of push-pull double deck trains. |
|
No: Built : |
82 |
|
Operating area : |
Paris Suburban SE region |
|
Number range: |
BB75101-5182 |
|
Voltage |
1500DC |
|
Power: |
1500 HP |
|
Maximum speed: |
120 km/h (75 mile/h) |
| Type | 2nd class with luggage area |
|
Weight: |
36 tons |
| length | 22m 80 |
|
Manufacturer: |
Carel & Fouché, MTE |
| Seats | 86 |
|
Date entered service: |
1953 |
| Withdrawn | 1998 |