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Mar 22, 2021 at 6:20 PMSiemens Mobility and VTG Rail Europe are collaborating on innovations for rail freight transport. The contract includes a one-year testing phase to demonstrate the operational suitability of the system. The brake monitoring system has a Europe-wide market potential due to the time and cost savings for rail-based freight transport.
(Hamburg) Siemens Mobility GmbH and VTG Rail Europe GmbH have signed a contract to test the innovative Brake Monitoring System (BMS) for the automated inspection of freight train brakes to demonstrate the system’s operational capability. The BMS enables automatic inspection of the brakes of each wagon in a train. Due to the expected efficiency gains for freight companies, there is significant market potential across Europe.
Reducing CO2 emissions is a top priority worldwide. Shifting freight transport from road to rail is an important component in achieving climate goals. Therefore, it is increasingly important to make rail freight transport more efficient. “The brake monitoring system developed by Siemens Mobility is an important step towards a more automated and digitized rail freight transport. Less time-consuming manual processes, higher efficiency, and guaranteed availability are the key drivers to make sustainable rail transport more competitive,” says Anne Fischer, Head of Rail Automation Products at Siemens Mobility.
Developing Intelligent and Visionary Rail Technologies
“The idea of a brake monitoring system was born at VTG in 2016, and initial developments began early on. With Siemens Mobility, we have found a strategic technology partner with whom we can drive innovations and develop intelligent and visionary rail technologies. The primary goal of the project is to enable direct productivity and efficiency gains for the industry. With the introduction of the BMS, rail network capacity can be utilized more efficiently. Additionally, train personnel will benefit from a reduced workload, and overall safety will be enhanced,” says Dr. Hanno Schell, Head of Technical Innovations at VTG.
Wagon Status Reported Automatically
During the one-year testing phase, individual components of the system will be tested and optimized. The first of two wagon sets has been fully equipped with the BMS, and testing has been ongoing since November 2020. The system provides the train personnel with status data that is visible on all sides of the wagon. Furthermore, the complete wagon status is reported automatically, and all wagon settings are displayed on a screen in the locomotive. In addition, the BMS improves overall safety by allowing for a detailed visualization of misadjustments, engaged handbrakes, or other issues with wagon components during inspections by the wagon master and just before departure. The data collected helps to prevent unexpected failures. It reduces maintenance costs and provides early warnings of wear.
The original BMS concept was developed as early as late 2016. After one year of successful field tests across Europe and some further developments of the system until 2019, the results of the current joint testing are a crucial aspect for the development of a series product by Siemens Mobility.
Photo: © VTG
