BYLINE: Zhang Li
Manager, Changcar Import & Export Department
Changchun Car Co
TWO CAR designs are currently in production at Changchun for Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Co. Both form part of a 217-vehicle contract worth US$138m signed in 1996 (RG 11.96 p710). A fleet of seven-car trainsets was ordered for the city’s two metro routes, totalling 48 km and currently under construction. The same deal includes a build of 48 double-deck coaches for suburban services. Deliveries are scheduled to be complete by September 1998.
The trainsets for the Iranian capital’s 1435mm gauge metro have been designed for a maximum speed of 80 km/h, tackling maximum gradients of 5% and negotiating minimum curve radii of 250m on the main line and 110m in depots. Traction current will be taken from a third rail energised at 750V DC; the cars feature chopper control, ATO and cab signalling.
All seven cars of each set are motored, giving starting acceleration of 0·9m/s2. Each set comprises two driving cars with cabs, three non-driving cars and two cars in the middle of the formation with hostler controls for depot movements. Weight of a seven-car formation is 252 tonnes.
With longitudinal seating for 42 passengers in the driving car and 46 in the other vehicles, each trainset seats 314 people. Standing capacity with five passengers per m2 is 1290, but under extreme conditions each trainset can accommodate 2230 at 10 passengers per m2.
Double-deck coaches
For the 42 km Ayatollah Kashani - Mehr-Shahr suburban route currently under construction, the double-deck coaches will operate in eight-car formations with a locomotive at each end. The new line will be electrified at 25 kV 50Hz, and the coaches have been designed for a maximum speed of 140 km/h.
Weighing 52 tonnes, each coach rides on Type 209PK bogies fitted with an axle temperature detector and wheel tread cleaner. Able to negotiate 145m radius curves when coupled and 100m radii when shunted singly, the coaches have Type F8 electrically-actuated brakes.
There are two 1800mm doorways per side, closed with pairs of sliding door leaves. From the vestibules at each end of the coach over the bogies, passengers gain access via stairways to the upper saloon seating 82 in a 3+2 configuration and the lower saloon with 78 seats. One vestibule contains an electrical cabinet and four seats arranged in facing pairs; the other has eight seats at tables.
Climate control is provided by two roof-mounted air-conditioning units, one at each end. Electric heaters have also been fitted. Noise levels within the passenger saloons at 120 km/h are designed not to exceed 60dB(A). o
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Changchun Car Co 110
CAPTION: Fig 1. The double-deck coaches have mid-level entry areas and inter-car gangways (blue) with stairs leading to the upper (purple) and lower decks
Fig 2. Metro cars for Tehran will run as seven-car trains, with a mixture of cars with full cabs (shown), hostler cabs, and no driving controls. All cars are motored
