Munich manufacturer adds Spike Train and Spike Tandem to its modular platform, targeting large parks where throughput has traditionally ruled out interactive coasters.
Munich-based roller coaster manufacturer Maurer Rides GmbH announced on 18 June 2026 the addition of two products to its Spike family: Spike Train and Spike Tandem. Both are designed to bring the software-defined, interactive Spike ride experience to the hourly capacity levels that headline attractions demand. The announcement addresses a gap that has long limited Spike’s reach – throughput.
Spike Train takes the motorcycle riding position that defines the existing Spike format and adapts it for train operation. Vehicles couple together, giving the product the capacity profile of a conventional large coaster while retaining the programmable dynamics and guest interactivity of the Spike platform. The ride profile is not fixed at installation. Software-Defined Dynamics (SDD) allows it to be updated without hardware changes to the track.
Spike Tandem takes a different approach. The tandem seating arrangement puts more riders per train on the track. Drive logic and braking sit in the vehicle itself, not embedded in the track infrastructure – which means no friction-wheel drives or brake fins are required. Speeds, stops, backward sections and onboard effects are all programmable via SDD. The result is dark-ride-level immersion delivered at coaster speeds. Jörg Beutler, general manager of Maurer Rides GmbH, said: ‘Tandem and Train bring the interactive Spike experience to the capacity level large parks need for a headline attraction – with no compromise on the ride feel.’
Both products share the same rack-and-pinion drive system that underpins the existing Spike range: 100 per cent traction, acceleration at any point on the track, energy recovery during braking, and a redundant drive layout. Maurer Rides reports ten Spike installations in operation or under construction worldwide.
Maurer Rides has indicated that full details of both products within the modular Spike platform will follow this autumn, when the company plans to outline how track, drive, passenger carriers, controls, multimedia, interaction and service function as a single system.
Images: Maurer Rides
