DBAG Class 612

The DBAG Class 612 is a two car, tilting, diesel multiple unit operated by the Deutsche Bahn for fast regional rail services on unelectrified lines.

General information
The Class are a two car tilting DMU built between 1998 and 2003 by Adtranz in Hennigsdorf which later became Bombardier Transportation. The class are also known as RegioSwingers.

They were developed to replace the problematic DB Class 611. The sets worked fine between 1998 and 2004 until cracks were detected in a number of wheelsets and so the tilting system was disabled and curves on lines had to have reduced speed limits, which affected the timetables and connections. From 2005 the trains had the wheelsets replaced and the tilting system was back up and running. The maximum tilt is 8°.

After ICE TD class 605 was grounded due to a fracture of an axle in one unit, it was replaced by class 612 on the Dresden-Munich line 2003, as replacement by anything other than a tilting DMU would have meant an extension of travel time. Even though class 612 was not constructed for ICE-type travelling comfort, 16 units were repainted in the ICE paint scheme and renumbered as class 612.4.

The RegioSwinger design is also used by Croatian Railways as class HŽ 7123.

Liveries
Most units are in the standard Verkehrsrot Red livery. In 2003 17 units were painted in the ICE scheme of White with a red band, however, these are now back in all red.

After 2017, trains using the yellow/white/black branding of bwegt, the mobility brand of the Baden-Württemberg State Ministry for Transport have been operating out of Ulm.

Services
Class 612 are used on the following services in the different regions (2012):

DB Regio Bayern

 * IRE 1 Nürnberg - Bayreuth - Hof - Plauen - Zwickau - Chemnitz – Dresden
 * RE Hof/Bayreuth – Lichtenfels – Saalfeld
 * RE Hof – Bamberg
 * RE Hof – Würzburg
 * RE Hof – Nürnberg
 * RB Lichtenfels – Kronach
 * RE Regensburg – Schwandorf – Weiden – Marktredwitz – Hof
 * RE Würzburg – Bamberg – Hof/Bayreuth
 * RE Nürnberg – Schwandorf/Weiden
 * RB Würzburg – Schweinfurt – Ebenhausen – Bad Kissingen
 * RE Nürnberg – Donauwörth – Augsburg – Buchloe – Kempten – Immenstadt – Lindau/Oberstdorf (called "Allgäu-Franken-Express")
 * RE Lindau – Immenstadt – Kempten – Memmingen – Ulm
 * RE Oberstdorf – Immenstadt – Kempten – Memmingen – Ulm
 * RE Lindau - Kempten - Augsburg

DB Regio Nordrhein-Westfalen

 * RE 17 Hagen – Schwerte (Ruhr) – Fröndenberg – Arnsberg (Westf) – Meschede – Bestwig – Brilon-Wald – Marsberg – Warburg (Westf) – Hofgeismar – Grebenstein – Kassel Hbf – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe

DB Regio Rhein Neckar

 * RE 4 Karlsruhe – Graben-Neudorf – Germersheim – Speyer – Ludwigshafen – Worms – Mainz

DB Regio Südwest

 * RE 3 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Mainz – Bad Kreuznach – Kirn – Idar-Oberstein – Türkismühle – Saarbrücken
 * RE 11 Saarbrücken - Saarlouis - Merzig - Trier
 * RE 12 Trier – Bitburg – Gerolstein – Kall – Euskirchen – Köln
 * RE 25 Koblenz Hbf – Limburg (Lahn) – Wetzlar – Gießen
 * IRE Stuttgart Hbf — Tübingen Hbf — Sigmaringen( — Aulendorf)/ — Rottenburg( — Horb)(Stuttgart Hbf — Tübingen Hbf only calling at Reutlingen Hbf)

DB Regio Südost

 * RE 4 Hannover Hbf – Hildesheim – Goslar – Bad Harzburg – Halberstadt – Halle (Saale) (– Leipzig)
 * RE 6 Leipzig – Chemnitz
 * RE 16 Leipzig – Altenburg – Reichenbach (V.) – Hof/Adorf
 * RE 1 Dresden – Bischofswerda – Görlitz
 * RE 2 Dresden – Bischofswerda – Zittau – Liberec – Tanvald
 * RE 3 Nürnberg – Marktredwitz – Hof – Zwickau – Chemnitz – Dresden
 * RE 1 Göttingen – Gotha – Erfurt – Gera – Gößnitz – Zwickau/Chemnitz
 * RE 3 Erfurt – Gera – Altenburg
 * RE 14 Erfurt – Meiningen
 * RE 7 Würzburg – Suhl – Erfurt