As a Swiss, it’s really impressive to see how Stadler has grown and how it’s now exporting its trains around the world.

So, Canada is FLIRTing with trains? oh la la.

I work for Stadler. I even did things for the Ottawa fleet. I am so happy you like it.

1. FLIRTs should immediately be deployed on Toronto’s UP Express line and other GO lines. 2. Many smaller Canadian rural and suburban communities could be fitted with these trains and instantly provide rapid intercity rail.

It looks like Ottawa got it right this time. Bonus choosing a modular design that can be switched out, repaired, or upgraded easily.

Another benefit of the power pack is that it can be swapped out for an alternative power source in the future, for example if the line gets electrified. Glad you like the FLIRTs! These ones look similar to the ones that got introduced in the UK recently, and I think they're awesome. I'm sure the FLIRT will go down in history as one of the best type of trains to ever exist

Those poor Stadler employees were probably in tears while assembling a diesel train in Switzerland.

As someone in Ottawa, I'm really encouraged to hear what you've reported about these trains.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="245">4:05</a> The pattern of the fabric is the same that most DB Rgional trains have and probably the same as the other Lint trains had/still have.

I an Ottawan, retired after taking the buses/LRT for nearly 45 years. Love this design. Love the fact that there are handles for standing passengers on the seats. So much better than having to reach up and hold onto something.

These Flirts can be really easily converted to electric power by switching out the power pack in the middle. Instead of Diesel engines, the transformers will be in there. By the way, did you know, that SBB in Switzerland uses these Flirts only 25 years. After that time they will be sold or scrapped and replaced by new ones. The oldest Firt 1s are just now approaching that age.

Very cool to see! Thanks for the glowing reviews. I was part of the design team and in charge of adapting the FLIRT frontend to be ready for Canadian winter conditions. I also adapted the O-Train livery to be applicable for the FLIRT and did all the material and painting specifications. Great to see the trains in action!

A few words about the company producing these trains: Stadler started very small in 1942 producing small rail tractors and special products for small private Swiss railway companies, like cogwheel trains. They remained very small with about two dozen employees in the 1990-ies! It was then that they started growing, gradually buying up competitors. In 1995 with the GTW they found a new niche, producing a light, low capacity articulated railcar that was slightly bigger, lighter and easier accessible than the old fashioned railcars they were replacing. The local small railroad company BTI with their meter-gauge single track railway line from Biel to Ins was the first one ordering this product, and they are still operating it today. The GTW was Stadler's first really successful export product. There were more than 600 units produced until 2018. Stadler managed to expand the GTW concept into a Multiple Unit with the bigger and more versatile Flirt platform, managing to create a new standard for commuter trains based on light, fast accelerating MUs, replacing much heavier and harder to maneuver locomotive driven units. And from the start, they were looking at the export market, as Swiss railway companies didn't really order from them in large numbers at first, being loyal to their old suppliers. Stadler was there with the right products at the right time, plus they managed to deliver them almost always on time and almost without teething problems. Now they've grown into a global player running factories worldwide with 10'000-s of employees and positioning themselves in various markets with a wide range of products from trams to high speed MUs to high capacity commuter MUs to cogwheel trains to large freight train locomotives.

I used to ride this line every day when I was in university and it was always the highlight of my commute. I'm so excited for it to open back up and get connectivity all the way across our city from north to south

In the UK, trains are required by law to have contrasting door colours, except for any doors that are only used by train staff, like for example if there is a separate door to the driver's cab. Those are the same colour as the walls so we know not to use them.

As someone that has ridden TEXRail from Fort Worth, TX to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, these FLIRT DEMU's are spectacular. Nice and smooth too.

We recently got a lot of FLIRTs in the Eastern UK like you pictured, and they're absolutely my favourite trains right now. They look great, they're fast, they're comfortable, they're quiet, they're well built, the tables are lined up with the windows, they're accessible, the interiors are super well specc'd - and I love the power pack design. Unlike traditional DMUs, no engines under the floors means no vibrations or noise or soot seeping into the passenger compartments, and if you electrify the line in the future you don't need a whole new train - just switch out the power pack.

The yellow handles will help for stability when you want to make your way to the door while the train slows.

In my city (Austin, TX) we have Stadler GTWs (the smaller variant of the FLIRT) in use on our one commuter rail line, and they are easily some of the nicest trains I've ever been on. Like the FLIRTs, the GTWs also utilize the PowerPack design, and they're astonishingly quiet and smooth. I'm so glad Stadler has expanded to the North American market, and interestingly their trains are becoming really popular here in Texas, with 3 current operators and a 4th one coming soon. I can't wait to see what MARTA's new CQ400 subway cars from Stadler look like - I'm expecting them to be gorgeous.

In Norway the flirt is used in almost all operations, commuter trains, regional and long distance. It is the standard emu here and they run up to 200km/h. We are just beggining to recieve bimodal ones to run where there was previosly dmu's running

Reminds me of the KISS trains that CalTrain has. I would love to see more of them across Canada and the U.S. and I can think of corridors that would benefit in my home state of Wisconsin.

*train pointing right at him* Reese: "I like trains"

Nice! Took a ride on a brand new bi-modal FLIRT today in Trondheim, Norway. Great ride! It uses a pantograph south of Trondheim, and the power pack northwards, where catenary now is under construction.

I enjoy riding FLIRTs from time to time in Poland. Theyre used as intercity trains (PKP Intercity)and in a local/commuter types of service (Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna, Koleje Mazowieckie) too.

The flirts are great trains. Love the ones we have at NS. Good quality, well build and no buggy software. One of my favorite trains to drive

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="272">4:32</a> "But given these trains are so much bigger than the old ones, it's unlikely you'll need them anytime soon." Spoken like someone who never attended Carleton University. When I say overcrowding got bad on the old Line 2, I mean there were literal lines forming where it was entirely possible you couldn't catch the next, maybe next 2 trains. The idea that some people will be standing and holding on to the straps as soon as after opening is quite reasonable.

The FLIRT and the KISS from Stadler are also my favourites. I ride them all the time when I go somewhere where I live in Sweden.

We have Stadler GTW DEMUs on the River Line Light Rail in Camden, NJ. They too have a power pack. It's beautiful when they are going. So quiet yet so powerful. They are the oldest Stadler fleet in North America. They MIGHT be replaced with FLIRTS in the near future.

I remember when I first went on this train as a kid, and the driver let me sit up front. I appreciated it, and I liked his little commentary, like when we were at a stop, we waited a little longer than usual because: "we're just going to let this poor running lady get on."

The big advantage of the central power pack ist that it can actually be just swapped out. The regional train services around my hometown Graz/Austria actually used this to get a better deal on their "GTW" (D)EMUs from Stadler (the predecessors of the FLIRT family), where they could simply order part of the trains with Diesel and another part with Electric powerpacks within one tender, greatly simplifying the whole acquisition process. Plus: some of the diesel lines will soon be electrified, so they'll probably just buy some additional power packs and retrofit the existing trains.

These trains look like they’ll keep you nice and cozy in the winter ❄️

This is an amazing video, this is a happy but sad since me being around during the old Otrain era, this new line makes me both proud and sad. Proud because ottawa is making a difference, but sad since the old day was a good train, and had a great legacy when it met line 1

I Always flirt on trains as its amazing spot to meet new people. Its wild that they actually named the train flirt, this is amazing

The Flirt is my daily driver here in Western Germany. Here in the Ruhr valley, the Flirt is used for S-Bahn service in a special version, the Flirt 3 XL. It's a five car overhead powered multiple unit, with wider doors and higher seat capacity, compared to the normal Flirt.

Gotta love some FLIRT. They have been serving Norway nicely for around 10 years now.

I've gone on a lot of trains in Switzerland (as I live there), and it's kinda uncanny to see the (more or less) same trains but with very different colours

Awesome! Ottowa is very lucky to have these FLIRTs! And BTW, Thx Reece for touching on the aesthetics of the trains. North American trains have had a tendency to look obese and ugly. It's such an underrated aspect of new trains. Making trains more visually appealing makes the bold statement that we actually value public transit riders.

Citizens of Ottawa will no doubt put reliability at the top of their list of priorities. The never ending fiasco with Alstom trains has been an embarrassment and inconvenience beyond measure multiple times, including putting lives in danger. Fingers crossed for these newer Swiss trains. Thanks for presenting such an insightful video here.

If the E&N railway here on Vancouver Island gets recommissioned, adding trains like this to local transit up and down the E&N railway would really increase it's utility.

Looks like a great trainset for North American standards. BTW: The _PowerPack_ is being used for quite some time by Stadler with the GTW series (starting in 1997). It feels like wasted space. On the other hand and again: it's very flexible just to exchange the power module in a product family.

It's funny that we have Bombardier trains here in Switzerland but export Stadler trains to Canada.

Always enjoy your video on Line 2 given how it started and how it's grown. It's a great case study for how we can bring back rail services in North America for at a relatively low cost. I'm going to have to do a Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal trip in the near future to experience all the new transit :D

Just found this video, and I learned that they FLIRTs are arriving to Ottawa! I am not an Ottawan, but I am interested in these trains. Thanks for posting about them!

That was great Reece. They are pretty trains to be sure. We need more of these.

Hey Reece. Are you thinking about making a video about cable cars/aerial lifts in the future. You could talk about the different types (gondolas, tramways, etc) and what they’re used for, the mechanics of how they work or give your take on they’re usage. Really anything tbh as there could be a lot of things to talk about and it would make for a really interesting video. Watching from London, UK.

Very very nice looking trains. Super modern appearance. Nice design

it’s really cool to see these FLIRTS used in california too! such as in ebart! and also the arrow train in san bernardino which actually has a hydrogen model in its fleet im pretty sure. The line opens later this year, super excited.

oh boy I love the FLIRTs I have been on.

Stadler Flirt is probably the most flexible train platform ever built . It can be adapted to customer needs with a few modifications , power can be diesel , electric , hybrid , and hydrogen . Maybe this is the product that allowed Stadler to step up and compete aggressively with other manufacturers like Alstom and Siemens . Over 2500 unit has been sold , running in every corner of the world , from the freezed areas of Norway and Finland to very hot spots as Texas is . Italy is one of the nations where these trains are well appreciated , many companies bought them including state owned operator Trenitalia . Filrts and High speed trains SMILE ( GIRUNO ) are also used for international connections between Italy , Switzerland and Austria . Allegra narrow gauge trains runs from Italy to Switzerland on one of the most brethtaking railways , the Bernina line . And ( coming soon ) new narrow gauge Stadler trains will appear on another international scenic railway , the Centovalli railway , connecting Italy to Switzerland .So ... let me say ... GO STADLER GO !!!!

Awesome trains! The FLIRT 3👌

Yass I ride the electric FLIRTs in Helsinki and they're my favourite train 😁

really excited that ottawa transit is finally starting to look good

Come on Ottawa, get some more of these sexy locos and start running service out to your rural communities. Everyday I can't train to Calipso is a policy failure.

I love Flirts, they are my commute trains and are amazing to look at

Stunning train, great video!

The FLIRT name originally came from the MU's German name: Flinker, Leichter, Innovativer, Regional-Triebzug. It closely means "Fast, Light, Innovative, Regional Trainset".

Really good video, Reece!

I was just in Ottawa for the first time a week ago, and I: A, had no idea that the O Train existed before then. B, Didn't understand what line 2 is as it was, (and still is) closed. Thanks for the info, and I agree that YOW will become the envy of Canadian mass transit.

I live in Switzerland and FLIRTS are used massively in the country STADLER is based on. Most of the time you're gonna take a train like the one on this video, except they're all 100% electric

Interesting that one of the first trains I ever rode was a staedler train, on the riverline. Remember walking through the powerpack.

Super excited to ride on these!

YES I WOULD LOVE TO SEE FLIRT DEMUs on Metra! That'll probably happen sometime next century though.

Love these Stadler trains. I first saw these on Cities:Skyline as a downloadable assets and they really looked nice. The real thing looks even better (because they're more shinny and I get to see the interior as well!) So excited that Canada is getting these awesome trains!

You earwormed me in the first TWO SECONDS of the video. D: xD

Wow, those look amazing. Would be nice to see them on Metro-North Railroad both the branch lines and mainlines. Do they have dual-mode ones, thinking for the Hudson line which has 750-volt under-running third rail as far as Croton-Harmon then presently uses push-pull diesel sets onto Poughkeepsie. Diesel only ones could also work shuttle trains on the Wassaic, Danbury and Waterbury branches that are presently worked with shorter push-pull trains.

Slovenia also bought some flirty. GOOOD trains

You should do a video on the idea of a mountain-valley express high speed rail from chilliwack to whistler in British Columbia

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="273">4:33</a> when carleton university will be starting a new year/semester, you’ll need that standing room

Honestly, I knew the O-train and OC transpo because of mighty machines lol, cool service

I love this video, Canada have any railways!!!

I wonder where these could be used in Toronto if we were to ever need them. Perhaps GO would use them. Maybe on the midtown line as a sort of London Overground for Toronto. For that though, we'd need better fare integration

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="267">4:27</a> - I guarantee that with trains this good and a service to match that the extra space and seating will still be insubstantial during certain times of the day. If you build it, they will come! 😁

I love FLIRTs! They're used extensively here in the Netherlands, including this diesel version on some smaller lines. The engine unit isn't very loud but boy does it get hot!

As a German, I was quite suprised to see a Lint and the German seat pattern

I'm so excited for this line to come back into operation, I'll be taking it all the way from limebank station to bayview station then swap to line 1 east for a few stops. :) (Bummer about the openning delays, but better to get it right the first time than have hickups after openning to the public)

I’m happy that this train is in my hometown. I’m excited to get a chance to ride it.

You should check out Newag's Impuls trains that are common in Poland. My regional operator ŁKA (in Łódź aglomeration) has both them and Flirt III trains and I actually prefer the Impuls trains. They look super cool! Like Flirts, they are flexible as they can be EMU's, DMU's or hybrid units. Also they come in 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 car variants. There is over 200 of them in Poland and a couple units in Italy

I'm so jealous that you got to see the cab!!

new sub loved the video thx for sharing.

Loving the content 😃 I’m into trains for not a long while, just half a year after switching from the aviation gang 😅 I’ve always paid attention to motor sounds of trains and metros. Searching it up are those complex traction systems that I always wish to know more about . Those IGBT-VFFF or IGVT whatever, super confusing for me. May you make a video in the future taking about traction system ? Cheers from down under 😀

Looking forward to my first ride from my local station, limebank, on opening day.

I love Stadlers naming scheme. FLIRT, SMILE, KISS, WINK, Tango, it’s not just a few numbers or some random acronym

I saw one of these at the OC Transpo facility at Walkley Yard

It is very nice to see more European products in North America. Now I don't have to go all the way south to Texas to check these out.

I believe NJ Transit was the first transit agency in North American to use the FLIRT DEMU when service on the RiverLine Light Rail started in 2004. Nearly 20 years later, those first generation FLIRTs are still carrying commuters between Trenton and Camden, NJ. I can envisioned FLIRT DEMUs operating on the non-electrified section of the LIRR one day. I just hope the folks at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can travel to Ottawa and see the latest generation FLIRT DEMU in action once the new line opens there. I can also envisioned FLIRTs operating on Wassaic extension of Metro-North's Harlem Line as well as a on Waterbury and Danbury Branches of the MNR's New Haven Line. I also hope Stadler have an electric version of the FLIRTs for the New Canaan Branch of the MNR's New Haven Line and the proposed Interborough Express for NYC.

Stadler also has the Wink and GTW for urban metro and lower rider density regional trains. Both the GTW and Wink come with a multi use power pack car.

Could these, hypothetically, substitute for old Amtrak diesels and Amfleet cars on shorter intercity service, specifically Raleigh to Durham NC (trip time of less than an hour) on shared freight and passenger track?

Omg I literally can't believe it I will see Stadler Flirts in the capital city of my country Croatia (when Slovenians next year start to operate them to CRO) and in Canada!

They are definitely a beautiful railcar.

80km/h is a disappointment but everything else about this is awesome.

I'm really looking forward to travelling on these trains. I'm also expecting loads of complaints about the service to the airport. I don't think too many people are aware that, to go from the airport to downtown, will require two transfers. That said, Line 2 is really going to change how people get around (now if only we can get more people to travel by OC Transpo, instead of working from home...)

I love the Flirt. Would love to see em in NYC and Philly, but that would also mean a total redesign of the Flirt (LIRR high platform and SEPTA a mix of high and low).

Very cool train! I would love to see it in Barcelona "Rodalies" regional train. Regional trains in Spain are getting old, and the Stadler FLIRT looks like a good option for regional train in Spain!

On Metra, I can see the FLIRTs on the Rock Island District on services between LaSalle Street Station and Blue Island - Vermont Street via the Suburban Branch.

Genuinely wish these trains were on Line 1, or trains like them. So much nicer!

I'm personallly impressed with the trainset. The problem we have here in the state of Pennsylvania, most rail transits are switching to high level platforms like 48 inches. Mainly with Amtrak, Septa, Marc, and NJ Transit. The highest floor height Stadlers FLIRT offers is 78 cm or 30 11/16 inches.

Thanks!

It's really trippy seeing that kinda fabric pattern in NA.

As an australian I never knew you could walk through the power car

ok, these trains are actually sick... like, these are really something for train enthusiasts to get excited about. Even the general public could appreciate how good these are.