# Loco Hauled Trains, EMU's or DMU's?



## CSXfoamer1997 (Mar 7, 2016)

Which of these is considered better for the following trains: regional, commuter, long-distance?

Longer loco-hauled trains, Electric Multiple Units (EMU's), or Diesel Multiple Units (DMU's)?

And why?


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## CCC1007 (Mar 7, 2016)

The answer is it depends, and that is the answer because all of the above types of services and equipment have different needs based on other factors that are so varied that it would help to narrow the search by specifying certain route(s) for analysis.


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## cirdan (Mar 7, 2016)

Lots of advantages.

Lots of disadvantages.

Multiple units have better acceleration than loco hauled consists. They also have more usable space as the traction equipment is mostly below floor level.

They are also more fuel efficient as you are dragging less dead weight around.

On the other hand, especially in the case of diesel multiple units, having passengers on the same vehicle as the prime mover can lead to unwelcome vibrations and noise.

Multiple units are also less flexible as you cannot easily add or remove vehicles

So I wouldn't say one is better than the other but it depends on the use case and priorities.


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## Seaboard92 (Mar 7, 2016)

It all comes down to market and the best examples I can give you really are in Germany. A place that has tons of the following types. In Bayern there is the Meridian trains (the ones that crashed lately actually). They took over a commuter line from DBAG. When DB AG ran the line it was usually a double deck seven car train every hour. Now Meridian has the contract and they run three EMUs coupled together which I want to say totals out at 12 cars it might be 15. The EMU with all axles powered has great acceleration which helps shorten run time. But station work is longer due to the longer trains.

The real pros of Multiple Units

Fast acceleration

Cheeper operational costs

The cons

Not flexible to demand.

In the case of two MUs put together no way for the crew or passengers to move about the whole train.

Now we also have the high speed emus and the conventional IC locomotive hauled trains.

The ICE which is an EMU (minus the ICE 1) enjoys the high acceleration speeds and they can handle the grades really well. Then you have the IC equipment which is locomotive hauled it can grow and shrink with demand on a route. Usually that doesn't happen. And it's easier for a route with multiple splits.

CSX Foamer I recommend you visit Germany one day especially with you interested in designing equipment. It's a good place to visit. Maybe go to Innotrans in September in Berlin.


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## Gemuser (Mar 7, 2016)

It really does depend on various factors including location. In some countries the distinction is very blurred. For example in Switzerland where I recently spent a month, there are almost no DMU [i've never seen any, but to be conservative I'll say almost], lots and lots of EMUs and plenty of loco hauled trains. On some railways, especially the RhB EMUs are often used as locos. On my trip on the Bernina Express from Chur to[SIZE=12pt] Tirano in Italy the "loco" was a 3 car EMU pulling 5 Panoramic cars, and this was over two major Alpine passes. EMUs pulling freight wagons was also quite common. There were other [/SIZE]idiosyncrasies[SIZE=12pt] on Swiss railways, boy were there! All very interesting.[/SIZE]


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## cirdan (Mar 8, 2016)

Seaboard92 said:


> In the case of two MUs put together no way for the crew or passengers to move about the whole train.


Disagree. You can design emus to have end gangways


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## Seaboard92 (Mar 10, 2016)

You are right on that one. I was thinking more about the emus I see in Europe on a more regular basis. And none of those tend to have a method at least in Germany


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## jis (Mar 10, 2016)

Having the ability to walk the entire train, at least for suburban trains is vastly overrated, unless of course the trains are so lightly loaded that people can actually make major moves from one end of the train to the other. Being ale to traverse the cars of each individual unit, which are often four or five cars long, is plenty of flexibility to move away from crowded cars to uncrowded ones, if there are any.


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## Seaboard92 (Mar 10, 2016)

I remember one suburban run I was on in Germany. From Prien am Chiemsee to München. It was a weekend train around 4pm and I was traveling on a Bayern Ticket which allows up to five for unlimited trains in Bayern all day. The train was an eight car consist of Bilevels. And it was packed. The conductors tried to get down the aisle and couldn't. People playing cards on coolers in the aisles. People sitting on the aisle. He eventually threw his arms up and I never saw him again.


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