ÖBB Class 5022 (Desiro Classic)

Updated: August 2026 – Two car sections, three bogies, no pantograph: the Class 5022 is the diesel railcar the ÖBB use on regional lines without overhead wire. This page shows you the feature that identifies it reliably, explains the difference between Desiro Classic and Desiro ML, and places the class within the Austrian numbering scheme.

What is the ÖBB Class 5022?

The Class 5022 is a two-part diesel railcar of the ÖBB based on the manufacturer platform Siemens Desiro Classic. It’s intended for regional service on lines without continuous electrification: the traction sits on board the vehicle, so an overhead line isn’t required.

The class designation follows the Austrian scheme. The ÖBB run powered vehicles under “class” plus a four-digit number, and the leading digit encodes the vehicle type: 1 for electric locomotives, 2 for diesel locomotives, 4 for electric railcars, 5 for diesel railcars. The 5 at the start of 5022 is therefore already half the identification – it tells you that no overhead wire is needed here.

The feature that settles the identification

Two car sections, but only three bogies: the 5022 is an articulated unit. The middle bogie sits exactly under the connection and is shared by both car sections. This so-called Jakobs design saves weight and axles and makes the ride quieter.

For spotters, that’s worth gold, because you can see it from a great distance. You don’t need to identify the front, interpret the livery, or read the marking – a single glance at the number of bogies is enough for an initial identification.

Its place in railway operation

Diesel railcars fulfil a clearly defined role: they serve lines where electrification doesn’t pay off, or hasn’t been carried out yet. That shapes the deployment area, the surroundings and the photography.

Criterion	Class 5022	Class 5047	Electric EMU
Traction	Diesel on board	Diesel on board	Overhead wire, pantograph
Car sections	Two, articulated	One	Several
Bogies	Three, middle one shared	Two	Two per car section
Typical line	Regional line without overhead wire	Branch line without overhead wire	Electrified main line
Service frequency	Rather sparse	Rather sparse	Often a dense interval

The table also shows the search profile: on lines without overhead wire, services tend to be more sparse. For spotters that means planning matters more than staying power on site. The fastest way to find which departures are actually due at a given station is via the information systems of the regional transport associations.

Desiro Classic, Desiro ML and the class: keeping three terms apart

The Desiro brand family appears twice in Austria – and refers to two completely different vehicle worlds.

• Desiro Classic is the diesel-powered platform. In Austria, it stands for the Class 5022.
• Desiro ML is the electric platform. In Austria, the Cityjet EMUs are built on it.
• The ÖBB class is the only designation that unambiguously names a specific vehicle.

Anyone who logs a sighting with just “Desiro” therefore loses exactly the information that matters. You’ll find the electric relative on the page about the Cityjet Classes 4744 and 4746; the German counterpart to the 5022 is the Class 642 (Siemens Desiro Classic).

What the missing overhead wire means for your search

For diesel railcars, the traction type isn’t just a technical feature, but the most important filter for choosing a spot. Where a continuous overhead line is strung, trains are usually run electrically – diesel vehicles only turn up there as an exception, for instance during diversions, transfer runs or engineering works.

That gives you a very practical approach:

• Check the line first, then the spot. If the line is electrified, a 5022 isn’t the norm there. Non-electrified sections are the real target zone.
• Transition stations are productive. Where an electrified main line meets a branch line without overhead wire, both vehicle worlds meet – often in the same shot.
• Plan for sparse services. On branch lines, an hour or more can easily pass between two trains. Without a timetable in your head, the outing quickly becomes a waiting game.
• Keep an eye on diversions. Engineering works bring vehicles onto lines they never normally run on – these are often the most interesting sightings of all.

Anyone who takes these four points to heart finds diesel railcars far more reliably than through pure trial and error. And because electrification and route responsibilities change over the years, it pays to keep updating your own overview of the network regularly. Excursion traffic has since taken over on some of these branch lines, for instance on the Kamptal Railway in the Waldviertel. In the Weinviertel, the NostalgieExpress Leiser Berge works on the same principle.

Photo tips for diesel railcars on branch lines

Which focal length makes sense at spots like these, and why telephoto lenses aren’t always the better choice, is covered in the guide which focal length for railway photography. The full system behind vehicle numbers is explained in the guide to the ÖBB number and UIC vehicle number.

Common mix-ups

The 5022 is most often confused with the single-section Class 5047. Both are diesel railcars for regional lines – but the number of car sections tells them apart reliably.

Verdict

The Class 5022 can be identified with two observations: no pantograph, two car sections on three bogies. Once you’ve internalised that combination, you’ll recognise the design out of the corner of your eye – and know at the same time that you’re on a line without overhead wire.