DSB Class MF
The DSB Class MF is a Danish-built medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia in Randers. This train model has been operating in Denmark and Sweden since 1990 and was previously operated in Israel from 1992–2024. The name IC3 indicates simply that it is a three-carriage InterCity trainset.
A total of 153 trainsets were built in 1989–98 by ABB Scandia in Randers, of which 96 trainsets were for DSB. Other sets were exported to Sweden, Israel, Spain, United States, Canada. At DSB, up to five train sets can be connected for a total length of and a total of 720 seats.
An electrically powered four-carriage version, the IR4 was introduced between 1995 and 1998.
General overview
The IC3 is a wide articulated train made of light alloy with Jacobs bogies shared between carriages. There are two engines in each end of the front and rear carriages, central car has none, giving a total of.The efficient mechanical transmissions with multiple gear ratios and high power for the tare weight give the IC3 good acceleration capabilities. The short distances between stations on inter-city routes in Denmark makes acceleration more important than high top speed, and so the IC3 units are geared for a top service speed of only.
The front- and cab-design is the most significant feature of the IC3. When viewed from the outside, the viewer will notice the large rubber diaphragm surrounding a flat cab. The cab is separate section of the train, but the table with the controls is mounted on a large door, to which the seat is also mounted. When two or more trainsets are coupled together in a single train, the entire front door folds away to give a wide passage, and the rubber diaphragms at the ends form a flush aerodynamic seal. The IC3 can also couple and run in tandem with the electrical version, the IR4. Up to five trainsets can be coupled together. The IC3 can also be coupled mechanically with its Flexliner little sister, IC2', but not the cousin ET-FT-ET.
DSB runs 96 IC3 sets and 44 IR4 sets.
Some IC3s run in Sweden, mainly Kalmar-Linköping. They are designated Y2. Before 2007 they also ran Malmö-Karlskrona, but that railway has been electrified, and after that 13 sets were sold to Denmark and Israel, and one scrapped because of a truck collision causing the death of a train driver. Six sets still run in Sweden.
File:Bet-Shemesh-Jr-rail.jpg|thumb|Israel Railways IC3 on the now-retired old line to Jerusalem, 2006
File:RNTRD001.JPG|thumb|Renfe Class Spanish litra 594 at Puerto-Escandon, April 2005
Another large operator of the IC3 trains is Israel Railways, who operate about 50 IC3 sets. Some of those sets were assembled in Israel from Danish-imported complete knock-down kits by RAMTA, a division of Israel Aerospace Industries, in Dimona, and some are modified IC3 trainsets which were originally delivered to Sweden. Israel Railways have started to slowly retire their sets since 2021.
Similarly in Spain, the national rail operator Renfe operates some IC3 derivatives classified as RENFE Class 594 on the Valladolid - Zamora - Puebla de Sanabria, Coruña - Ferrol, Coruña - Lugo - Monforte de Lemos and Madrid - Soria routes since 1997 as a medium-range regional service The Class 594 trains were built by CAF under a technology license agreement from ABB Scandia. Some Class 594 units were refurbished in the 2010s and as a consequence have had their rubber diaphragms removed in favour of conventional cab ends.
In 1997, an Israel Railways IC3 was tested in North America under the name ‘Flexliner’. Amtrak used it on the Hiawatha, St Louis and Kansas City Mules, San Diegan, and between Eugene and Portland, Oregon; Via Rail Canada tested it for services on the Windsor–Quebec corridor.
The total number of ABB Scandia/Adtranz-built IC3 and IC3-based trainsets is 202.
Internet
These trains were equipped with wireless internet through a WiFi connection. This service is available for InterCity and InterCityLyn trains between Copenhagen and Århus. This is available free of charge for visiting DSB and TDC network websites and for two minutes for other websites. DSB's costs for internet use are 29 DKK for 5 hours of internet within a 24-hour period.History
Development of the IC3 started in 1984, production started in 1986, and they entered service in 1991. However, its roots can be traced back further. In 1972, DSB celebrated its 125th anniversary, and at the same time made some large changes. First of all, two years later, in 1974, a completely new timetable system, the K74, was introduced. Secondly, the concept of lyntog was removed as the foundation of the long-distance traffic, and instead a new InterCity concept took over that role. After a few years, a new concept emerged, the so-called , which were workgroups tasked with specific areas. There were groups for electrical locomotives, diesel-powered locomotives, and others, including the "long distance train" APO group.The long-distance train - APO was originally tasked with finding a suitable train for long-distance traffic. However, it was later rumoured that the lyntog-concept might be re-introduced within a few years, and so it was decided to find a suitable design for that concept. Several requirements were made: primarily to use air-conditioning for cooling and heating of passenger areas, and be able to use either electric or diesel propulsion. The second requirement were due to the fact, that the Danish politicians had yet to decide whether or not to fund a proposed electrification of the mainlines of the Danish railways.
At the time no such train were available, so the group designed one themselves. In order to avoid propulsion units in the train, it was designed to use a locomotive to haul it, and equip the end wagons with driver cabins. The train was designed as a set of 5 carriages, with a service car in the middle and 4 passenger coaches.
In 1983, the group responsible for the timetables had made a set of requirements for the ideal future train for the InterCity traffic. The requirements were based on experience with the prototype : it should be light-weight, its passenger compartments should have fixed windows and air conditioning, it should be self-propelled, it should use standard engine and transmission components from the bus and truck industry, and it should be fast and easy to add carriages ; along with a number of technical requirements. The new project became designated IC3.
After the IC3 project had been proposed, it was relatively quickly decided to cancel development of the IC5-prototype, as it suffered from several problems. The main problem was the weight of the train. Originally it had been estimated to weigh around, but ended up weighing. A train of similar size and capacity, consisting of conventional wagons, would weigh approximately the same as originally estimated. When it was first proposed to cancel the IC5 project, the train's designers tried to save it by proposing several solutions to the train's problems, but to no use: DSB's management had decided that the IC3 was the proper train for the future.
The task of developing the IC3 was assigned to a joint-group of designers and technical engineers from DSB itself and the factory Scandia. As a side note, it should be mentioned that neither DSB or Scandia themselves, wished that they got the task, as they had pretty much no experience in this kind of trains.
The first IC3 set was delivered in 1988, but suffered from a number of teething problems primarily due to its computer systems. One example was that it would lock the toilet door with no apparent reason. Another issue was that snow would build up around the diaphragms and block the driver's view. By late 1990, the majority of these problems had been solved, and so the train entered service in 1991.
In 2017, DSB announced the IC3 stock would receive a 10-year life extension, allowing them to replace IC4 trains.
In 2018, the first six ERTMS-retrofitted IC3 trains left the workshop at Langå, with the conversions performed by Alstom with technical assistance from Banedanmark and DSB. All IC3's are to be converted to ERTMS from the proprietary ZUB 123 ATC system, which is to be done around the fall of 2019 and into 2020.
In 2021, DSB bought two sets from Israel Railways for spare parts. In 2021, Israel Railways announced its intention to retire its IC3 fleet, in light of the introduction of Siemens Desiro HC electric multiple units and newer fifth-generation Bombardier Double-deck Coaches. The trains were withdrawn from timetabled services in November 2023 but retained as backup, and completely retired on 28 January 2024. This entailed the permanent termination of services on the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem–Malha, as the journey cannot be travelled by Israel Railway's newer rolling stock due to said railway line's restrictive loading gauge.
In 2021, the Maritime and Commercial Court ruled that Deutz AG had misused a dominant market position in 2010 regarding replacement motor parts.
The remaining Swedish Y2 fleet is due to be replaced by new CAF Civity Nordic electric and bi-modal trains, expected 2024–2027.
Technical overview
An IC3 set consists of three carriages. These are the MFA, the FF and the MFB. The MFA and MFB are, from a technical point of view, identical and only differ slightly in the interior design.The train is powered by four diesel engines, each delivering, giving the train a total to propel it. The engines are mounted in the MFA and MFB carriages, with two engines in each carriage. Each engine drives the axles on the bogies via an electronically controlled automatic gearbox. The engines are mounted so that the end which would normally point forwards in a rear-wheel-drive car, instead faces the center of the MFA and MFB carriages. Due to this mounting design and nature of combustion engines and to the fact that the train runs forward in both directions, a so-called "reverse gear" had to be attached to automatic gearboxes. They are responsible for making the axles turn the right way. These gears are normally not controlled directly by the train's driver; instead, the train's on-board computers check which of the two cabs is active to determine the train's primary driving direction, setting the reverse gears accordingly.