Vy BM69

Updated: August 2026 – The BM69 is the older generation of Norwegian local multiple units: built by Strømmen, with electrical equipment from ASEA, and therefore a vehicle from an era when Norway largely procured its traction at home. This page shows you how to place it, what to distinguish it from and why careful documentation is particularly worthwhile here.

What is the BM69?

The BM69 is an electric multiple unit for local services in Norway, procured by the state railway NSB, which is now called Vy. Its correct name is Type 69: the country designates multiple units with the word “Type” and a number, while locomotives begin with an abbreviation for the type of traction – “El” for electric, “Di” for diesel. The commonly used spelling BM 69 comes from the Norwegian word “motorvogn” for railcar.

Within the Norwegian multiple unit families, 69 is the lowest and therefore oldest type number of the designs documented here. It comes before Types 70 to 75 and looks correspondingly different: more angular, more classically structured, with the styling of its era. Its direct neighbour in the numbering is the Type 70.

Reading type numbers: the Norwegian system in brief

Norway has one of the clearest designation systems in Europe. It answers two questions at a glance – category and design.

The vehicles also carry a European vehicle number with the country code 76 for Norway. How this block of numbers is structured is explained in the guide to the UIC number and its check digit; the general approach to identifying vehicles is in the guide to identifying classes.

Its place in railway operation

Local multiple units are the workhorse of every electrified network: short distances between stops, many doors, intensive diagrams. In Norway there’s an additional requirement that Central European vehicles don’t face in this form – winter resistance as a permanent condition, not as an exception.

Requirement	How it shows on the vehicle	Visible to you?
Snow and drifts	sturdy snowploughs, protected openings	yes, at the front
Cold and icing	heated windscreens, door areas and steps	indirectly, on ice-free surfaces
Long gradients	traction designed for continuous load	no, can’t be checked visually
Many tunnels	lighting and pressure conditions inside	partly, during the journey
Frequent stops	door layout and entry areas	yes, from the side view

The third row is deliberately answered honestly: not every design requirement can be recognised from the outside. If you only describe what you actually see, you’ll make fewer mistakes than someone who quotes data sheets from memory.

For you as an observer, this results in a practical division into two. The first group of features – design, axle and bogie arrangement, roof equipment, markings – you can check on the platform and note without reservation. The second group – traction power, approvals, interior details, fleet numbers – doesn’t belong in any sighting as long as you can’t prove it. This separation sounds like a small thing, but it decides whether your records will later be a source or just a collection of assumptions. Especially with older designs, about which there’s little reliable literature, your own properly separated observation is often the most reliable information of all.

Documenting older designs: the urgency rule

With a vehicle whose operational future is uncertain, priorities shift. The aim isn’t to take a particularly beautiful picture, but one that serves as evidence.

• Full number above all else. Without it, the sighting is an anecdote.
• Exact date and location, not approximate – the most common gap with sightings made while travelling.
• Document markings and livery, because they make the point in time datable.
• Record the context: in service, stabled, in reserve? That completely changes what the sighting says.

How to store such details so that they can still be evaluated years later is shown in the guide to the sightings logbook.

Spotting and photography on Nordic local services

Local trains run frequently, stop often and rarely stand for long. On top of that, Norway has a factor that you only know in a milder form from Germany: in the winter half of the year, it’s dark for a large part of the day.

For shots at dusk and in the dark, it’s worth reading the article on spotting in winter and in the dark.

Common mix-ups

The most obvious candidates for confusion on the same services are the Talent units of Type 72 and the more modern FLIRT designs such as Type 75. They share platforms and duties but differ clearly in styling and type number.

Conclusion

The BM69 isn’t a spectacular vehicle, but it’s an instructive one: it shows what an older generation of vehicles looks like next to modern designs, and it makes clear why type numbers are the most robust identification feature. If you come across one in Norway, pay less attention to the perfect picture and more to the full number – vehicles of this generation disappear from service faster than people plan trips.