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NS Class 8600/8700/9400/9500 | |
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![]() A 4-unit VIRM EMU near Venlo | |
![]() Refurbished second class interior | |
In service | 1994–present |
Manufacturer | Talbot, part of Bombardier Inc. |
Number built | 178 sets |
Formation | 6 cars (8600/8700) 4 cars (9400/9500) |
Capacity | 8600/8700 – 129 (1st), 442 (2nd) 9400/9500 – 61 (1st), 330 (2nd) |
Operators | NS Reizigers |
Specifications | |
Maximum speed | 140 km/h (87 mph) (service) 160 km/h (99 mph) (design) |
Power output | 2,388 kW (3,202 hp) (8600/8700) 1,592 kW (2,135 hp) (9400/9500) |
Electric system(s) | 1.5 kV DC Catenary; all units have extra space for equipment to operate on 25 kV AC Catenary |
Current collector(s) | Pantograph |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
VIRM trains, full name Verlengd InterRegio Materieel (transl. Lengthened interregional rolling stock), are a series of electric multiple unit (EMU) double-deck trains operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen or NS (Dutch Railways), the principal railway operator in the Netherlands. NS has 178 of these double-deckers – 98 four-carriage sets, and 80 six-carriage sets. The trains were built between 1994 and 2009 – for the most part by Talbot, part of Bombardier Inc., with some railcars built by De Dietrich.
The VIRM trains evolved out of the previously existing DD-IRM series (DubbelDeks InterRegio Materieel or Double-deck interregional rolling stock). The first batch of 81 VIRM trains was created by lengthening all the existing DD-IRM combinations by one or two railcars. Three-unit trainsets were augmented by one carriage to transform them into a four-unit VIRM, and the four-unit sets received two more carriages, to create six-unit VIRM trains.