Austria: OBB 'Taurus' electric loco no.1016 013 between Lindau (Germany) and Feldkirch (Austria)

Austria: Taken right at the font of the first passenger coach this video shows the couplings of OBB 'Taurus' electric loco no.1016 013 whilst hauling train IC119 the 0727 from Munster (West) to Innsbruck. The video was recorded between Lindau (Germany) and Feldkirch (Austria) and was recorded on 27th February 2016.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
The Austrian Federal Railways (German: Österreichische Bundesbahnen or ÖBB, formerly the Bundesbahn Österreich or BBÖ) is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group is owned entirely by the Republic of Austria and is divided into several separate businesses that manage the infrastructure and operate passenger and freight services.

The Austrian Federal Railways has had two discrete periods of existence. It was first formed in 1923, using the Bundesbahn Österreich name, as a successor to the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways (kkStB), but was incorporated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn during the 1938-1945 Anschluss. It was reformed in 1947, using the slightly different Österreichische Bundesbahnen name, and remains in existence in this form.

Major changes currently being made to the Austrian railway network are the construction of the Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna main station), the Koralm Railway, the Semmering Base Tunnel and the Brenner Base Tunnel connection with Italy.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
In the beginning of the 21st century demand for the new passenger and cargo locomotives was quickly rising. One of the most successful new locomotive families was - and still is - the Eurosprinter family, initially developed by Siemens and ADtrans (later acquired by Bombardier) together. The first really widespread cargo locomotive of this family was the German class 152. Based on the success of the Br 152 Siemens started developing a new multi purpose fast locomotive together with the Austrian state railways ÖBB. The design was modular and the dynamic new looks were designed by Porsche. The Taurus was born!

Taurus locomotive was originally created for the needs of Austrian railways ÖBB who needed a powerful universal locomotive. ES64U2 Taurus replaced aging ÖBB locomotives of 1950s and 1960s, and survived as the winner of the many locomotive types from various manufacturers initially studied for the need. The design can be seen as unusually high quality industrial design so we must sincerely thank Siemens and ÖBB for this.

ÖBB ordered the first batch of Siemens Taurus Eurosprinter ES64U2 locomotives for solely its national traffic under 15 kV 16,7 Hz. These locomotives received classification as 1016. Class 1116 soon followed with a capability to run on 25 kV 50Hz too. Third iteration for the ÖBB brought online class 1216, which has the ability to run under 1500V DC and 3000 V DC. These machines are called ES64U4 Tauruses. The class 1216 also has substantial, though at first glance invisible design differences: you need to take a look at locos from two different classes side by side to realize how different they are and how well the differences are disguised to create an illusion to the public eye that these locomotives are alike.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Lindau (officially in German: Lindau (Bodensee)) is a major town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (Bodensee in German). It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau in Swabia, Bavaria, and located near the borders of Austria (Vorarlberg) and Switzerland (St. Gallen and Thurgau). The coat of arms of Lindau town is a lime tree, referring to the supposed origin of the town's name (Linde means lime tree in German). The historic town of Lindau is located on an 0.68-square-kilometre (0.26 sq mi) island, which is connected with the mainland by a road-traffic bridge and a railway dam leading to Lindau station.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Feldkirch is a medieval city in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg on the border with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is the administrative center of the district Feldkirch. After Dornbirn, it is the second largest town in Vorarlberg in terms of population, with slightly more inhabitants than the state capital Bregenz. The westernmost point in Austria lies in Feldkirch on the River Rhine, at the tripoint border of Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
@FrontCompVids - Follow us on Twitter!
More FrontCompVids clips are regularly added to so don't forget to Like and Subscribe!