CHINA: CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world’s first carbon fibre metro car bodyshell on January 7.
The manufacturer says that the composite materials used allow the car to be 35% lighter than the average metal body bodied metro car, which would help to reduce rail wear.
CRRC says that it has the intellectual property rights to the design, but has not specified when it would begin mass production of carbon fibre bodyshells.
UK: Consultancy Atkins, bespoke composite engineering company Cecence and electrification equipment supplier Brecknell Willis are studying the potential use of advanced composite materials 10 times stronger and four times stiffer than metals to lower the cost of tramway overhead electrification. Copper contact wire would be suspended from a carbon fibre ...
BELGIUM: A glass-fibre reinforced plastic overhead electrification mast developed by Austrian company Powerlines Group is undergoing testing at an exposed location on the coastal tram route operated by De Lijn. The manufacturer says its patented GRP mast offers server advantages over steel or reinforced concrete equivalents. It is entirely non-conductive, ...
