Stadler handed Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) the last of 60 RABe 512 double-deck trains on 2 October 2026, ahead of the end-2026 date SBB had planned for that delivery.

SBB RABe 512 double-deck train at an outdoor handover, with two representatives in front
An SBB RABe 512 double-deck train at the handover, with representatives standing in front. Photo: Erich Kaufmann / Silvio Kaufmann / Stadler Rail AG

The Swiss manufacturer says all 60 units were delivered on schedule, which closes the production phase of the InterRegio double-deck fleet. The trains have carried passengers since mid-2023 around Zurich, on the Swiss Plateau and in western Switzerland. By Stadler’s count, the fleet has since covered more than 23 million kilometres.

An option worth around CHF 1.3 billion

SBB says it placed the order in April 2021, taking up an option under an existing contract for roughly CHF 1.3 billion. Stadler’s project data show that 41 of the 60 trains were meant to replace older stock and help SBB meet the step-free boarding rules of Switzerland’s Disability Discrimination Act on long-distance routes. The other 19 were earmarked to ease capacity bottlenecks on regional services around Zurich and in western Switzerland.

In October 2021 SBB described its own timetable for the fleet as very ambitious. Eleven trains were due in service from the December 2023 timetable change. Another 15 were to follow each year, with the final unit scheduled for the end of 2026. The first trains in fact entered passenger service in July 2023, and SBB’s fleet page lists the end of 2026 as the due date for the last one.

Six cars, 466 seats and propane air conditioning

Each RABe 512 is a six-car, low-floor train about 150 metres long, with 466 seats and a top speed of 160 km/h. First class has 2+1 seating, and the train carries eight bicycle spaces with sockets for e-bikes.

The design builds on the RABe 511 double-deckers that Stadler supplied earlier, and the two types can run together. SBB says 24 four-car RABe 511 sets were upgraded to InterRegio standard between 2020 and 2024 and can operate in dual traction with the RABe 512.

SBB double-deck multiple units built by Stadler, by fleet
Fleet Trains Seats per train Length First deployed
RABe 512 (InterRegio) 60 466 150 m 2023
RABe 511 (InterRegio, upgraded four-car sets) 24 317 100 m 2012
RABe 511 (Regio, six-car sets) 69 535 150 m 2012

The 60 RABe 512 trains join 93 earlier RABe 511 double-deckers in the SBB fleet. All three groups have a top speed of 160 km/h. The RABe 512 fleet offers 27,960 seats in total (60 × 466, Railway Supply calculation). Source: SBB fleet pages for the RABe 512, the InterRegio RABe 511 and the Regio RABe 511, checked on 3 October 2026.

Stadler also highlights a propane-based air-conditioning system, which it says is considerably kinder to the environment than conventional units. In 2021 SBB was still only examining propane (R290) as a natural refrigerant for the new trains.

Pandemic, supply chains and the Valais flood

Stadler names three pressures that repeatedly strained the project: the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupted global supply chains and the summer 2024 flood at Constellium’s aluminium works in Valais. Even so, the SBB and Stadler project teams kept production on track.

Constellium’s update from October 2024 shows how severe that flooding was. In Sierre the plate and extrusion shops went under water, as did the Chippis casthouse, with flooding four to five feet deep at its peak, and restoring power took more than six weeks. The company expected both Sierre shops to return to full operation in late November 2024 and to complete the production ramp-up within the first quarter of 2025.