10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. InterCity-Neigezug am Bözberg - Südrampe: Kabelleger / David Gubler ( http://www.bahnbilder.ch )· GFDL
- 2. RABDe 500 ICN EMU - 54826117727: Samson Ng . D201@EAL· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. 1 FFS RABDe 500 021-1 Rotkreuz 120415: NAC· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. C2.00a Bf Luzern, RABDe 500: Falk2· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. FS ETR 470007 EC21 FFS RABDe 500xxx ICN688 Biasca 050315: NAC· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. Ic5-rabde-500-geneve2: Remontees· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. RABDe 500 001-3 + RABDe 500 021-1 Bahnhof St. Gallen, 2014: Bahnfrend· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. RABDe 500 021-1 Bahnhof St. Gallen, 2014: Bahnfrend· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 9. RABDe 500 ICN EMU: Samson Ng . D201@EAL· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. RABDe-500-IC5-Genève-Aéroport: Remontees· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The SBB RABDe 500, also known as the ICN, is a Swiss high speed passenger EMU, which was introduced in 2000, in time for Expo.02 held in western Switzerland in 2002. Its maximum speed is 200 km/h (125 mph), and it employs tilting technology, which allows it to travel through curvy routes faster than non-tilting trains. The train sets were a joint development by Bombardier, Swiss Federal Railways and Alstom, with an aerodynamic body designed by Pininfarina, bogies and tilting mechanism designed by the then SIG, Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 26 years ago, in 2000.
- Top speed is 1.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 12 minutes.
- 5.2 MW is about 61 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 189 m long: about 42 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 470: 9 full city buses (~50 seats each).
- Still in service after 26 years.
high-speed train: Built for 200–350 km/h on dedicated lines, like the TGV, ICE or Shinkansen.
spec sheet
- built
- 2000
- in service from
- 2000
- status
- in service
- number built
- 44
- kind
- high-speed train
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- builders
- Adtranz
- designer
- Pininfarina
- operators
- Swiss Federal Railways
- top speed
- 200 km/h
- power
- 5.2 MW
- formation
- 7 cars
- length
- 189 m
- capacity
- 470 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q869587, Wikipedia: SBB RABDe 500 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.