Bombardier Talent

The name “Talent” stands for “Talbot leichter Nahverkehrs-Triebwagen” (Talbot Light Commuter Multiple Unit) and designates a series of diesel-mechanic, diesel-electric or electric units built for several countries. All variants consist of three or four cars articulated on Jacobs bogies. The first and last cars contain all traction equipment, while the rest of the train is low-floor.

In Germany, the three-car diesel-mechanical variant is being designated class 643, with the trailer cars themselves being class 943. A two-car variant is the class 643² and 943². Both are being powered by two 315 kW six-cylinder MTU engines. The classes 644 and 944 designate the three-car diesel-electric variant with two 505 kW twelve-cylinder MTU engines. Also operators from Norway, Slovakia and Canada use the diesel variants. Romania bought some used ones from a German private operator in 2021.

The electric variants are mainly being used in Austria for S-Bahn, Regional and Regional Express services. For use only under 15 kV 16.7 Hz, there are the three-car class 4023 and the four-car class 4024. Additionally, there is the four-car class 4124 that can also operate under 25 kV 50 Hz. Of 188 sets delivered to Austria, the 4024 makes up the largest part with 140. The Hungarian MÁV operates ten sets developed from the Austrian 4124 and originally designated them class 5342, today class 5342.