Technology news – Page 97
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Metro Report InternationalTram components 3D printed on demand
GERMANY: Siemens is using 3D printing to reduce its lead times for the supply of customised tram components from weeks to days while eliminating the cost of specialised tooling and the need to keep parts in stock. Siemens has seen an increase in demand for customised parts, but the ...
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NewsBombardier places ‘breakthrough’ order for ABB transformers
AUSTRIA: Bombardier Transportation has placed the first contract for ABB’s Effilight roof-mounted traction transformer design, ordering 42 transformers for installation on 21 Talent 3 electric multiple-units which it is to supply to Austrian Federal Railways for use in the Vorarlberg region. The Effilight has a patented cell design which ABB ...
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Metro Report InternationalLiebherr level control for Chicago metro cars
USA: CRRC Sifang America has awarded Liebherr-Transportation Systems a contract to develop and supply 400 hydraulic level control systems for use on the Series 7000 metro cars that it is to build for Chicago Transit Authority. Production of the Series 7000 cars is scheduled to begin in early 2019, with ...
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Metro Report InternationalCatenary-free operation for Newcastle light rail line
AUSTRALIA: The six Urbos trams which CAF is to supply for the light rail line under development in Newcastle will be equipped with onboard energy storage to permit catenary-free operation, New South Wales Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Andrew Constance has announced. ‘Removing the overhead wires will preserve the ...
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NewsTram components 3D printed on demand
GERMANY: Siemens is using 3D printing to reduce its lead times for the supply of customised tram components from weeks to days while eliminating the cost of specialised tooling and the need to keep parts in stock. Siemens has seen an increase in demand for customised parts, but the ...
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NewsSiemens launches 'internet of trains' Digital Rail Services business
USA: Siemens has formed a Digital Rail Services business to improve rail operations by creating an ‘internet of trains’ making intelligent use of data generated by sensors on infrastructure and vehicles. The Digital Rail Services business is based at the Georgia Institute of Technology Campus in Atlanta. It aims to ...
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Metro Report InternationalSeattle light rail renewable energy agreement signed
USA: Sound Transit has entered into a 10-year agreement with Puget Sound Energy enabling the transport authority to purchase wind-generated energy directly. It hopes to use only renewable energy to power its light rail network from 2019. Through its 2015 Sustainability Plan and Sound Transit 3 network expansion project, ...
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Metro Report InternationalUsing mobile data to analyse transport flows
UK: A project to use mobile phone network data to analyse transport and traffic flows will be tested in a commercial environment as part of a government-sponsored competition. Innovate UK is to provide a grant to cover the proposed project cost of £1·2m. Citi Logik is working with Vodafone ...
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Metro Report InternationalLondon Underground data transmission contract awarded
UK: London Underground has awarded Finnish company EKE-Electronics a €20m contract to replace the data transmission system on the Central Line train fleet. Announcing the award on April 18, EKE-Electronics said that it had beaten three other shortlisted bidders. EKE-Electronics will supply train computers, unit computers, I/O modules and ...
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NewsDLR unveils automated freight train vision
GERMANY: Aerospace research institute Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt unveiled its vision for an automated freight train on April 13. Part of its ongoing Next Generation Train project, the NGT Cargo concept is intended to increase rail’s share of the European freight market by making it ‘more appealing’, according ...
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NewsKTMB orders multiple-units with graphene capacitor energy storage
MALAYSIA: A €180m contract for 22 multiple-units of two types was signed by Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport, national operator KTMB and CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive on April 11. The order includes 13 four-car DMUs for use on regional services. These Class 61 units will have an operating speed of 120 km/h, ...
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NewsWeedfree orders weed killing train
EUROPE: Weedfree On Track is investing £2m in a second weed killing train, backed by a £300 000 debt funding package from Enterprise Ventures SME Loans and £200 000 from Finance Yorkshire's Business Loans fund. The vehicles are to be supplied by Hungarian company Gaal-Gaal, which supplied Weedfree's existing ...
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NewsElectrification fabrication facility to support just-in-time delivery
UK: VolkerRail and Unipart Rail have opened a third overhead electrification equipment preassembly facility, to support phase three of Network Rail's 25 kV 50 Hz North West Electrification Programme. VolkerRail said precision prefabrication at the site in Crewe would ensure the just-in-time delivery of electrification equipment, with a high degree ...
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NewsSJ rolls out national automated alcohol testing
SWEDEN: SJ has begun the national roll-out of Hök Instrument's Sesame Connect system for the automated daily alcohol testing of safety-critical employees. ‘With just 33 unmanned units covering the entire country, all SJ’s train drivers confirm they are sober every time they come to work’, said Mark Hawthorne, Vice-President Sales ...
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NewsResearch project aims to automate train driver functions
FRANCE: The Safe Autonomous Land Transport project to test the use of technology to automate train drivers’ observation functions has been launched by the SystemX digital engineering research institute in partnership with SNCF and Alstom. Drawing on the scientific expertise of the Université de Technologie de Compiègne, the project aims ...
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NewsTrain operator sees the light
UK: Chiltern Railways estimates it will save around £10 000/year in lighting maintenance costs, see a significant reduction in its energy bills and also improve staff working conditions following the installation of Zeta Specialist Lighting’s LED technology at three servicing sites in Wembley, Aylesbury and Stourbridge. Zeta worked with Ormiston ...
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Metro Report InternationalBattery energy storage to lower light rail energy cost
CANADA: Toronto Hydro is to provide a battery energy storage system capable of providing the future Eglinton Crosstown light rail line with back-up and emergency power for up to 4 h in the event of a widespread power outage. It will also store energy generated during night time off-peak ...
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless shuttle on test in London
UK: Passenger-carrying trials of a driverless electric shuttle prototype began on April 5 on a 2 km route on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. The focus is not the technology, but on how it functions alongside people in a natural environment. The initial trial will explore passengers’ attitude towards ...
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NewsPrima H3 shunting loco approved for 100 km/h
GERMANY: Federal railway office EBA has certified Alstom’s Prima H3 battery-diesel shunting locomotive for operation at up to 100 km/h, paving the way for main line operation. Announcing the certification on April 5, Alstom said the Prima H3 was the only three-axle shunting locomotive certified to operate at this speed ...
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NewsShift2Rail funding call oversubscribed
EUROPE: Proposals for research projects valued at almost €200m have been submitted in response to this year’s Shift2Rail Call for Proposals, which closed at the end of March. The 60 applications from groups representing 412 organisations have a total value of €192·8m, with requests for funding totalling €136·5m, equivalent to ...