Protos

Picture from the Railfaneurope.net Picture Gallery, click here for the caption.

Number series: 5031-5035
UIC numbering: 94 84 4811/12 002-006
Number built: 5
Number in service for Connexxion: 5 (January 2009)
Introduced: 2007
Axle arrangement: Bo'2'+2'Bo'
Continuous power rating: 1340kW
Maximum speed: 160km/h
Weight in working order: 108 tonnes
Length: 54.500mm
Floor height: 810/1020mm
Builder: Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau (Germany)
Electrical installations: Vossloh/Kiepe (Germany)
Passenger seating: 12 first and 154 second class

When Connexxion started to operate passenger trains on the "Valleilijn" Amersfoort - Ede-Wageningen, they promised to order new trainsets for this service. The new trainsets should have been in service by September 2007.
Five new trainsets (of a new type, nowhere in service yet) were ordered from Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau in Germany, member of Transmashholding from Russia. The trainsets are called "Protos" and feature a floor at Dutch platform height. The interior is very bright and light, which cannot be said of the trainsets themself. Actually, they are very heavy.
The prototype Protos was already on display at Innotrans in Berlin in September 2006. In March 2007 the prototype arrived in The Netherlands for acceptance tests. In July the first series trainset arrived, the rest arrived before the timetable change on 9 December. From this date, they operate all trains on Amersfoort - Ede-Wageningen.