[CH/DE] Decorated Astoro celebrates faster Zurich – Munich connection

This is an example of how ETCS makes railways more competitive. ETCS Baseline3 enables smoother train rides from Zurich to Munich, shortening the route by half an hour. To make this more visible, one Astoro unit got special stickers.

Railcolor News would like to thank Melissa Aeberhard for her photo contributions. Check her Instagram on @made_in_switzerland_

It now takes 3,5 hours to complete Zurich – Bregenz – Munich – at least with a trainset that has ETCS Baseline 3. This project is on the way and in spring of 2022 there should be enough trains to reduce travel time for all services. The biggest difference is that retrofitted trains can switch between national systems under ETCS while running. This saves just enough time to put the train in an earlier time slot.

To make successes like this more visible, unit RABe 503 018 received special stickers. Three flags on the nose; One end car sports “Zürich“ below its cab windows, while one of the intermediate cars got “München“. And this is done vice-versa on the other side of the trainset. Both city stickers include iconic local elements.

SBB CFF FFS RABe 503 018 with special stickers © Melissa Aeberhard