Challenge
Nowadays demand for the growth in transport and in railway sector is increasing more and more. In particular, European railways have to deliver increased productivity to fulfil the growth demand across all modes in freight and passenger services by 80% and 50% respectively by 2050.
In2Rail aims at the optimisation of the design of core infrastructure elements as well as the improvement of the management of the railway system through three technical sub-projects:
- Smart Infrastructure, which aims at developing an intelligent and reliable infrastructure through efficient design and new materials, novel working methods and smarter use of data
- Intelligent Mobility Management (I2M), which aims at developing an ICT environment to support all transport operational systems
- Power Supply and Energy Management Systems, that aims at designing a future AC Rail Power Supply System with minimised energy losses and optimised loads and implementing an efficient energy management system allowing understanding of energy flows within a railway system, a reduction of the energy consumption and cost, optimised asset management and enabling better use of the railway capacity.
Approach
In2Rail is characterised by an holistic approach; the main objective of RINA involvement in the project was related to the design of an open system dedicated to the fine mapping of energy flows within the whole Railway System.
RINA activities in the project were mainly related to the definition of the architecture for the Smart Metering for Railway Distributed Energy Resource Management System (RDERMS).
Moreover, we contributed in the definition of the technical specifications and in the identification of the interfaces and communication between the different involved on-board and wayside subsystems. The User Application needs and their definition are also included; relevant user groups and functional users needs for applications have been identified.
Finally, our activities were also dedicated to the preparation of the planning, the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) and the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
Conclusion
In2Rail contributed to lay the foundations for further work in the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking and to achieve the objectives of the Transport White Paper.
In particular, In2Rail impacts are relevant to surge of the utilization of capacity; this was achieved by increasing of 20% of the line capacity, by allowing all railway stakeholders to become active energy decision makers and contribute to enhance the line operation timetables. Accurate energy measurement leads also to energy savings and predicted energy usage that increases capacity without upgrading the electrical infrastructure.
Regarding the reduction in the recurrent costs of rail operation, main results are relevant to the use of intelligent energy measurement tools, reduction of transmission losses (by up to 50%), improved management of parked train lighting and air conditioning/heating, and predictive maintenance, by continuous monitoring of energy consumption variations from expected values.
Concerning savings in investment costs (up to 30%), main achievements are achieved by the reduction of installed power, whilst achieving the same capacity with increased reliability.
Project Consortium:
1 Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (Project Coordinator)
2 Alstom Transport S.A.
3 Ansaldo Sts S.P.A.
4 Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB
5 Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
6 Mer Mec Spa
7 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
8 Strukton Rail BV
9 Trafikverket - TRV
10 Thales Communications & Security Sas
11 Union Des Industries Ferroviaires Europeennes - Unife
12 Acciona Infraestructuras S.A.
13 Administrador De Infraestructuras Ferroviarias
14 Azd Praha Sro
15 Caf Signalling S.L
16 Emte S.L.U.
17 RINA Consulting
18 Deutsche Bahn Ag
19 Deutsches Zentrum Fuer Luft - Und Raumfahrt Ev
20 Deutsches Zentrum Fuer Luft - Und Raumfahrt Ev
21 Deutsches Zentrum Fuer Luft - Und Raumfahrt Ev
22 Evoleo Technologies Lda
23 Fcc Construccion Sa
24 Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung Ev
25 Hacon Ingenieurgesellschaft Mbh
26 Indra Sistemas S.A.
27 Ingenieria Y Economia Del Transporte
S.A.
28 Lulea Tekniska Universitet
29 Politecnico Di Milano
30 Fondation De Cooperation Scientifique
31 Railenium
32 Societe Nationale Des Chemins De Fer Francais
33 Systra Sa
34 Universidade Do Porto 35 Universita Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza
36 Universita Degli Studi Di Genova
37 The University Of Huddersfield
38 University Of Southampton
39 Kompetenzzentrum - Das Virtuelle Fahrzeug, Forschungsgesellschaft Mbh
40 Embedded Rail Technology Ltd
41 Chalmers Tekniska Hoegskola Ab
42 Izt Institut Fuer Zukunftsstudien Und Technologiebewertung Gmbh
43 Loughborough University
44 3deling Sp Zoo
45 Neelogy Sa
46 Institut De Recherche Technologique Systemx
47 Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen
48 University Of Bristol
49 The University Of Birmingham
50 The University Of Nottingham
51 Obb-Infrastruktur Ag
52 European Federation Of Railways Trackworks Contractors
53 Vossloh Cogifer Sa
54 Gridnet S.A.
55 Tata Steel France Rail Sa
56 Sygnity Spolka Akcyjna
57 Dotvision