UNDER construction at the AnsaldoBreda plant in Napoli is the first IC4 inter-city trainset for Danish State Railways. The 83 articulated four-car DMUs have been designed in co-operation with Pininfarina, and will have a top speed of 200 km/h. Intended to operate in multiple with up to five sets, they will have retractable automatic couplers, although they will not feature the through gangways of DSB's IC3 sets.

The light aluminium bodyshells are designed to absorb up to 6 MJ in a collision. Each set will have 208 seats arranged 2+2 in a mix of face-to-face and airline layouts. One vehicle will feature a low-floor section with entrance doors 600mm above rail; this will include the bar, accessible toilet and a multi-purpose area for disabled passengers.

The IC4s will be powered by four 560 kW underfloor low-emission diesel engines that meet Euro 3 standards. They will each drive one axle through a 16-speed mechanical gearbox, giving a peak output of 2000 kW at rail. n