Cutting a fine figure: the new S-Bahn for Hamburg — Photon
The 60 brand-new ET 490 trains of Hamburg’s S-Bahn are not only more efficient and more comfortable than previous models, they also look better from the outside. This is in no small part thanks to the rail-vehicle experts at Photon.
By 2019, Photon will have manufactured solebars and double T-beams for a total of 180 carriages. In addition to the technical specifications, the aesthetic requirements are high, because the solebars are visible. This requires precision laser welding in 3D, with twelve-metre-long components, of course with welding seams that can’t be seen on the outside.
The finished trains are real gems and a testimony of Photon’s expertise. But the manufacturer Bombardier Transportation also benefited from Photon’s comprehensive know-how in the field of rail-vehicle construction in other ways – for example, in the development of the overall manufacturing concept and in the design and optimisation of components.
And perhaps most importantly, the new vehicles are a hit with Hamburg residents as well as visitors to the Hanseatic city.
