Innotrans 2016 - SBB Giruno by ZCochrane on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Incredibly fresh from the factory, before they even had the first proper tests (beyond "can you safely tow this to Berlin"), was the Stadler EC250, which its customer SBB/CFF/FFS will call Giruno.

This will be the new high speed train for the Gotthard base tunnel, traveling at 250 km/h underneath the alps. The goal is that it will connect Stuttgart (south of Germany) to Milano (north of Italy) via Zurich and the new tunnel. For that, it is a bit late - the tunnel will open soon, and the trains will be delivered in a few years from now. Blame SBB for that; they really took their time with starting the procurement process.

For Stadler, this is now their top-of-the-line train. I was very excited what silly name they'd reveal now; they already have Tango (tram), FLIRT (regional single-deck train) and KISS (regional double-deck train), so what would the next step be? Well, sadly there was none, it's simply EC250, for EuroCity (the train category) and the top speed. I guess that's for the best. I wouldn't be surprised if SBB intervened as well; they were really quick with announcing their own name before Stadler had a chance, too. Rumor has it that they were not happy when Stadler renamed their double-deck train from the generic DOSTO to the silly "KISS" at the Innotrans 2010.

(For extra bonus ridiculousness: The german Wikipedia page for the double-deck train still is titled "Stadler DOSTO", even though that name is obviously wrong. On the talk page there are long discussions about this, with the old name being kept on the theory that the first name is the defining one, and it doesn't matter that it only entered service after the renaming. I keep wondering when someone will point out the west-german class 103 or the east-german class 130, two classes that have nothing in common except that the first prototypes were delivered with a different name. Someone really should mention that, but I'm certainly not going into the middle of that flame war.)

What else? Oh yes, Stadler is very proud that this the first low-floor high speed train, which would be a great achievement indeed if it were true. In reality, Talgo over in Spain has done the same decades ago. Stadler could really know that - Talgo was one of the competitors for this contract, and sued unsuccessfully when it didn't get it.