Restored GDR prestige train will not be rolling for the time being after all

Problems with the electrics and braking system mean that the GDR express train SVT Görlitz will not be rolling again as soon as hoped. All planned journeys for 2025 have been canceled, the non-profit SVT Görlitz gGmbH announced on Facebook. Managing Director Mario Lieb told the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper (Friday edition): "With a train that has been standing still for so long, you have to be prepared for surprises." The problem only became apparent after the train was put into operation.

The railroad enthusiasts had collected funding and donations and put a lot of effort into the restoration themselves. At an open day at VIS Verkehrs Industrie Systeme GmbH in Halberstadt in June, the interior of the train was presented for the first time following the refurbishment.

The train was dismantled into thousands of parts and refurbished

The GDR prestige train once connected Berlin with Prague and Vienna. It was dismantled into thousands of parts and refurbished in Halberstadt. This involved engines, radiator units and suspension, windows and historic lights as well as newly woven curtains. The plan is for the train to complete 40 to 50 journeys per year in future, for which it will be available for charter.

Built in the 1960s

The SVT has a streamlined nose and the streamlined front was once a novelty. It is considered the flagship of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in international transport. Eight trains of this type are said to have been built between 1963 and 1968; only three are still in existence in parts. The high-speed railcar was approved for 160 kilometers per hour. However, the speed limit on the Reichsbahn lines was 120.