Velaro High-Speed Train Innovations
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costy_transVelaro High-Speed Train Innovations
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costy_trans- High-speed Transformation
- Innovations in Train Technology
- Train Design and Efficiency
- Global Impacts and Future Prospects
Innovation on the move
Siemens press picture
High-speed
transformation
Transformers for the Velaro high-speed train
Ccile Felon, Andreas Moglestue, Cyril Montacq, Christian Vetterli, Harry Zger
Concerns over carbon emissions from transportation, combined with the increasing congestion of road and air space
are causing many countries to rethink their transportation
policies. New investments in transportation, such as commuter systems to serve major cities, or high-speed lines to
connect cities over distances of several hundred kilometers, are contributing significantly to fuel savings and the
reduction of CO2 emissions.
High-speed rail is particularly effective at taking pressure
off short-haul flights, reducing air congestion and bringing
cities closer together. Japan and several European coun-
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tries have been investing in high-speed railways for several decades and now have extensive high-speed networks.
The rapid development of emerging economies, together
with concerns ranging from rising fuel prices to global
warming, have led more and more countries, on different
continents, to look toward high-speed trains as an alternative transport solution. Manufacturers are meeting this
growing interest by rolling out a new generation of ultrafast trains offering higher performance and more sophisticated technology than their predecessors.
One of these trains is Siemens Velaro.
ABB Review 4/2009
High-speed transformation
Innovation on the move
BB Scheron traces its collaboration with Siemens Mobility to
2003, when ABB won a significant order to supply 140 +100 traction transformers for the double-decker trains
of the Siemens Desiro family for the
suburban rail system of Zrich, Switzerland (S-Bahn Zrich) 1 . A special
challenge here was that the transformer had to be extremely light and compact as the design objective of the
train was to maximize the space available for passengers.
In 2004, ABB was awarded an order
to supply 172 EMU (electrical multiple
units) transformers for suburban services in the Mumbai area (India). In
this project, ABBs ability to provide
local content proved an advantage in
obtaining the contract. A second major Mumbai order followed in 2006
Factbox 1 .
responsibility of Siemens Mobility. Velaro trains have been sold to Spain
(2001: 26 eight-car trains for Madrid
Barcelona), China (2005: 60 eight-car
trains for Beijing Tianjin and 2009:
20 eight-car trains and 120 16-car
trains for Beijing Shanghai) and Russia (2006 : eight 10-car trains for Moscow St. Petersburg). With a power
of 8,800 kW, (10 percent more than
the ICE-3) the Spanish train can reach
a top speed of 350 km/h.
Factbox 1
The ICE-3 and Velaro differ from the
first generation of European highspeed trains in that they are not pulled
by dedicated locomotives or power
units, but use a distributed-traction
concept. This means that all traction
equipment such as traction motors,
transformers, cabling and auxiliary
equipment is distributed along the subfloor space of the vehicles. As a result,
the full length of the train is available
for passenger accommodation. This approach permitted the capacity of the
Mumbai suburban railway
The Mumbai suburban railway has the
worlds highest passenger density: It is used
by 6.3 million commuters every day. The system extends over 319 route km (790 track
km) and is divided between two of Indias
zonal railways: Western Railway (WR) and
Central Railway (CR). It uses a total of 191
Building on this success, ABB secured
a further traction transformer contract
with Siemens in 2008, this time for
trains destined for the Scottish railway
franchise, Scotrail.
train rakes (train sets) to operate, 2226 daily
train services.
To alleviate overcrowding and provide
program has been launched. This includes:
In June 2009, ABB won a prestigious
order with Siemens Mobility: to supply transformers for Siemens flagship
Velaro high-speed trains.
The ICE-3 and Velaro
differ from the first
generation of European
high-speed trains in that
they are not pulled by
dedicated locomotives or
power units, but use a
distributed-traction
concept.
Source: Integral Coach Factory (ICF)
additional capacity, a massive investment
Boosting capacity by adding 181 km of
gral Coach Factory (ICF). ABB is sub-contracted to supply the traction transformers.
additional tracks
Extending station platforms to permit
Further features of the new trains include:
longer trains
Energy savings of 30 percent due to
Improving signaling systems to permit
regenerate braking
trains to run at shorter intervals
Use of three-phase traction motors
Procuring new trains
permits 20 percent higher power
Top speeds of 100 km/h rather than 80 as
The works will permit the total number of
on previous train types
trains operated every day to be increased by
Higher acceleration 0.54m/s2 as com-
25 percent. Overcrowding will be alleviated
pared to 0.38 for previous trains.
by reducing the commuter load of a 9-car
Decelartion similarly improved to
train from 5,000 to 3,600 passengers.
0.76 m/s2 from 0.6.
The total cost of these measures is estimat-
Borivali or CSTM Thane trip reduced by
ed at $943 million*) of which 57 percent is
four to five minutes.
Journey time on a typical Churchgate
provided by a World Bank loan.
Passenger comfort improved through a
broad range of measures including better
The first phase included the procurement
riding quality, improved ventilation, pas-
The Velaro high-speed train
of 101 new trains of 9 cars each, with
senger information displays and better
Velaro traces its origins to the ICE-3
train, which was supplied to German
Railways (DB) from 2000, and operates at speeds of up to 320km/h in
commercial service 2 .
97 more following in the second phase.
lighting.
As the works also include a phased conversion of the railways electrification system
For more information, see
from 1,500 V DC to 25 kV 50 Hz, the new
[Link] .
trains are dual voltage, permitting them to
work on both systems during the transition
The Velaro is a development of the
ICE-3. In contrast to its predecessor,
for which Alstom LHB, Bombardier/
DWA, and Siemens were jointly responsible, the Velaro is entirely the
ABB Review 4/2009
*)
45,260 million Indian Rupees
period.
The trains are being built by Siemens in
cooperation with the Indian company, Inte-
65
High-speed transformation
Innovation on the move
A Desiro Double Deck or train of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) used
on the Zrich suburban system (S-Bahn Zrich). These trains have
ABB transformers. [Siemens Press Picture]
train to be increased by some 20 percent while at the same time augmenting levels of passenger comfort.
The next Velaro order was placed by
German Railways (DB) in December
2008 3 . These 15 trains differ from
the previous Velaro orders in that the
train will be used on international
services and must be equipped to
work in four countries (France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland).
They must operate under four different power supplies and be compatible with the different safety and signaling systems of the respective countries.
In June 2009, Siemens Mobility
entrusted the supply of the traction
transformers to ABB. Ralf Mayer of
Siemens Mobility said ABB met the
challenging requirements, eg, size and
weight, of these special transformers
in a very convincing manner so we
chose ABB as a reliable partner for
the Velaro D project.
The Velaro challenge
The Velaros transformer posed several engineering challenges.
If a traction unit fails, the train must
be able to continue its journey with
75 percent of its maximum traction
and brake power in complete safety.
This includes the trains ability to start
and stop on steep gradients (the train
is expected to cope with gradients of
up to 4 percent, double that of conventional trains).
66
An ICE-3 high-speed train of German Ralways (DB). These trains
have a top speed of 320km/h.
All this is achieved at great levels of
energy efficiency. With an equivalent
gasoline consumption of 0.33 liters
per person per 100 km, Siemens
claims Velaro to be the worlds most
ecological train.
Two traction transformers will be fitted to every eight-car train. In order
to save weight, the secondary windings of these transformers also serve
as line inductances for the power converters when the train is operating under a DC power supply. Thanks to
this economic weight-saving principle,
the mass of the entire transformer
assembly (comprising the 5,220 kVA
traction transformer and its cooling
system) could be reduced to 7,700 kg.
The traction transformer
and its cooling system
jointly form a plug-andplay assembly.
This principle of combined use of
windings was first installed on the
Italian locomotive type, E412, in 1996.
It has since been adopted by other
vehicle types including the ETR 5001),
AGV2) (NTV3) high-speed trains) and
the Traxx MS4) locomotive.
rather than the more common 50 Hz
ones permitting their mass to be reduced without sacrificing cooling performance.
Capacitor-based filters have been
added to reduce resulting harmonics.
Railway applications are extremely
sensitive to harmonics as these can
cause interference with signaling systems. Hence requirements are very
stringent, demanding great diligence
in addressing such issues.
The traction transformer and its cooling system jointly form a plug-andplay assembly, useful for installation
and for maintenance. This was an
unusual concept for Siemens, as the
company normally sources the transformer cooling system separately from
the transformer. The unit does not
require de-gassing or oil refilling, and
so can operate for prolonged periods
with minimal intervention.
Further challenges were posed by the
very demanding timelines to which
ABB had to work, as Siemens required
the delivery of the first transformer in
December 2009.
Footnotes
1)
ETR 500 is a high-speed train operated by Italian
Railways (Trenitalia) and manufactured by a consor-
The transformers enclosure is manufactured out of weight-saving aluminum. Further weight is saved by integrating the expansion reservoirs (for
the coolant fluid) with this unit. The
cooling system uses 60 Hz motors
tium of suppliers.
2)
AGV (automotrice grande vitesse) is a high-speed
developed by Alstom as a successor to the TGV.
Similarly to the Velaro, it uses distributed traction.
3)
See
4)
Traxx is a family of universal locomotives manufac-
Factbox 2 .
tured by Bombardier Tranportation.
ABB Review 4/2009
High-speed transformation
Innovation on the move
Impression of the Velaro-D train that will be supplied to DB
[Siemens press picture]
A future at high speed
ABB Scheron has managed to build
an excellent working partnership with
Siemens Mobility. This was based
both on ABBs ability to draw on its
expertise in traction-transformer design and apply this to the demands
of high performance under restricted
space and weight limitations Factbox 2 ,
but also its high responsiveness and
willingness to collaborate. ABBs support staff made themselves available
at all times, including weekends, to
attend to queries at meetings, by
phone, e-mail or on-site to share their
expertise.
Siemens ability to rely on ABB is
of the greatest importance. Being
responsible for the project, Siemens
must bear the liability and penalties
Factbox 2
An ABB traction transformer for the Velaro D train
for late delivery or malfunctions of the
finished train yet with acceptance
procedures being required in four
countries, the timeline is extremely
demanding. Siemens must thus be
able to count on reliable partners who
will do everything in their power to
avoid inducing delays of their own.
ABB is in continuous contact with
Siemens to discuss progress and
review technical issues. At the same
time, ABB is working together with
the end customer (DB) on various
quality-related issues defined by the
customer such as enclosure welds.
With projects for high-speed trains
being considered in many countries
and continents, fuelled by environmental concerns, airspace congestion
or driven by the rapid economic
ABB and high speed
growth of many developing countries,
the global market for high-speed rail
is certain to see some exciting development in years to come. ABBs motto
for rail transport of the future is Let
the brain fly but your body takes the
train.
Railway applications are
extremely sensitive to
harmonics as these can
cause interference with
signaling systems.
The Velaro project is not only a good
starting point for further high-speed
orders, but also demonstrates ABBs
competence in the design and supply
of traction transformers for all types
of applications.
Ccile Flon
Cyril Montacq
Christian Vetterli
Harry Zueger
ABB Scheron SA
ABB draws on considerable experience in
additionally used two AGV power bogies
Geneva, Switzerland
designing and manufacturing transformers
under the passenger cars.
[Link]@[Link]
for high-speed trains. The highlights of this
NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, Italys
[Link]@[Link]
include:
first private operator) will use AGV trains
[Link]@[Link]
The TGV/AGV train that set the world
equipped with ABB transformers.
[Link]@[Link]
speed record of 574 km/h on April 3rd
Siemens Velaro for DB uses ABB trans-
2007 (see inset photograph) used an
formers.
Andreas Moglestue
ABB transformer. The train had conven-
ABB Review
tional power cars at the extremities, and
Zurich, Switzerland
[Link]@[Link]
ABB Review 4/2009
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