"EuropeTrain" with new "whispering brake" tours through Austria
09-Sep-2011
Europe's railway enterprises intend to cut rail noise in the transportation of goods by half
Today, Franz Seiser, chairman of ÖBB Holding AG, Andreas Fuchs, chairman of Rail Cargo Austria AG, and Jean Pierre Loubinoux, president of International Union of Railways UIC, presented the “EuropeTrain” in Deutsch-Wagram. Since December the test train has been crossing all over Europe in order to test a new type of whispering brake, the LL brake block, and to translate it into a production unit. This brake pad has the potential of cutting train noise in the transportation of goods by half in comparison to the previously used grey cast iron brake blocks. For this European project Austria is of special importance with its topographic conditions.
Only joint action in the whole of Europe will be of any effect
All newly produced goods wagons are already being delivered with quieter brake systems. Retrofitting the existing wagon fleet was not previously able to be carried out because of the high costs. “This is not a national, but a European issue. Goods trains do not stop at national borders but they cross all over Europe. An appropriate noise reduction can only take place if all railway enterprises and private owners of wagons cooperate and if there are uniform standards throughout Europe. Almost half of all goods wagons running through Europe are owned by private contractors”, said Franz Seiser.
System approval for the whispering brake system possible from 2012 if tests are successful
The whispering brake now in test phase should receive approval under the patronage of UIC in cooperation with the European railway enterprises and so bring about significant relief all over Europe to people living next to railway stations. Goods wagons with grey cast iron brake systems rank among the main producers of noise with regards to rail. “RCA is an important cooperation partner in the joint project. We plan to reduce rail noise at its source. RCA acting alone is not justifiable economically nor will it be effective for those living next to railway stations as they would continue to perceive the louder wagons of other enterprises”, said Andreas Fuchs. Provided that the tests are completed successfully the “LL brake block technology” should be available from the end of 2012/beginning of 2013.
“UIC together with its members is doing all it can to make rail the most efficient, most safe and most sustainable form of transport in support of clients and the society”, declared UIC president Jean-Pierre Loubinoux in his statement.
New type of LL brake block should cut noise by half
Composed of different types of wagon, loaded with diverse goods and provided by several European railway enterprises, the test train will have run more than 200,000 kilometers by the beginning of 2012, surveyed on its way by engineers and technicians of DB [Deutsche Bahn] engineering. The LL brake block has the potential of cutting rail noise by half in comparison with traditional grey cast iron brake blocks. Contrary to the K- block which equally cuts noise by half in the same way, it can be installed into the existing fleet at much less cost. Andreas Fuchs sums up the advantages of the new braking system: “Grey cast iron brake blocks rub so heavily against the tread of the wagon wheels that it becomes rough and therefore rails make more noise by rolling over them than wheels having a smooth tread.”
Continuous surveyance of the train by ÖBB infrastructure monitoring bodies
During its two week test phase in Austria the “EuropeTrain” will cover 10,000
km passing several testing stations.
Local measuring stations make it
possible to continuously and on a consistent quality level obtain parameters of
the condition of the vehicle and of the superstructure strain. “The measuring
shall occur without influencing the vehicle operation with the control rate on
the operational track”, declared ÖBB Holding chairman Franz Seiser.The acoustic
and running properties of the passing wagons shall be measured at these ÖBB
infrastructure measuring stations.“ As the driving force with respect to less
rail noise in Europe, Rail Cargo Austria shall provide four wagons for
EuropeTrain and the traction of the train in Austria”, contributed Andreas
Fuchs, chairman of Rail Cargo Austria.