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Automatic Gauge Changing for Freight. the OGI Project

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25 número 5 - junio - 2018. Pág 71 - 79 Automatic gauge changing for freight. The OGI project Piqueras, Anibal Saura, Joan Paños, Francisco TRIA, SA1 Abstract Having different gauges on a railway network is a difficult challenge for planners and operators. There are a set of tools that can be used to minimize the connection problems at gauge frontiers. For HS, the solution has come through automatic gauge changing trains. For freight there are other solutions working now such as static wheel changing at frontier and third rail, but each has its disadvantages and there is need for enhancing the array of tools at the disposal of the infrastructure planners and decision makers at the transport ministry. The Spanish rail authorities have decided it is time to develop an automatic gauge changing technology for freight trains, and they have put forward a program that aims at having a certified variable gauge wheelset by the end of this year. ADIF awarded the consortium formed by the Spanish companies TRIA and AZVI a contract to develop and homologate two variable gauge wheelsets for wheel diameters of 920 mm and 760 mm, that mount on Y21 bogies in the case of the 920 mm wheel and on vehicles carriages in the case of the 760 mm wheel. At this moment, the prototype train has done 20 thousand kilometres on the HS and conventional networks of the 250 thousand required for final approval. Previously, the wheelsets have passed bench tests and the gauge changing tests. Keywords: track gauge, automatic gauge changing mechanism, changeover facilities, rail freight transport 1 Piqueras, Anibal. Ingeniería y Técnica del Transporte. [email protected] Saura, Joan. Ingeniería y Técnica del [email protected] (corresponding author) Paños, Francisco. Ingeniería y Técnica del Transporte TRIA, SA. [email protected] (corresponding author) International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 71 Piqueras, Anibal. Saura, Joan. Paños, Francisco. 1. Introduction The decision of constructing the main Spanish railway network to a 1668 mm track gauge continues being today one of the major challenges for the railway operation in Spain. Both freight and passenger trains find significant difficulties when it comes to operating in two different track gauges, mainly from/to the border between France and Spain. In the case of passenger trains, automatic gauge changing trains and changeover facilities have been highly developed due to the decision taken by the Spanish Government of using the standard 1435 mm track gauge in HSR network. The need of facing the challenge of the coexistence of two different track gauges in the main passenger network (HSR lines and conventional lines) gave priority to the stakeholders to find the solution to this problem. However, as almost the whole new HSR lines are not designed for mixed use and freight traffic, the need to solve the gauge problem has been forgotten in time for the freight trains. This brings us today to the situation that Spain has one of the lowest percentage rate of rail freight modal share1 (both inland and international freight). This lack of competiveness of rail freight transport is due, among others, to the different track gauge and the fact of not having developed variable gauge systems for freight wagons. The Spanish infrastructure manager ADIF, being aware of the problem, published a call for tenders in 2015 to develop an automatic gauge technology for freight trains. The state of the art and future benefits of this new technology will be analysed in this paper. 2. State of the art 2.1 The different track gauge and existing solutions to the problem It is known that the challenge of different track gauges has existed since the first constructions of railway lines. The main problem of the break of gauge is that a train cannot pass from one track gauge to another and this implies, therefore, a railway border. We can find one of the best examples between the track gauge of the Spanish conventional network (1668 mm) and the track gauge of France and most European countries (1435 mm). Different solutions have been implemented historically to solve this problem, to eliminate these railway borders, we could list the next types of solutions that are valid for freight trains: a. Interchange of wagon axles ad wheels, as found in Cerbère/Hendaye borders b. Transfer of goods, helped by large cranes that transfer the containers from one wagon to another, as found in Portbou/Irun borders c. Using tracks of three or more rails so that it exists continuity for one of the track gauges, as found in some railway sections in Spain d. Using automatic gauge changing trains (a solution yet not very extended for freight traffic) The two first solutions (a and b) require big areas to place the necessary tracks, factories and cranes to carry out the interchange. Apart from that, these two solutions entail an inconvenient in terms of time-consuming process. 1 European Court of Auditors (2016). Rail freight transport in the EU: still not on the right track. 72 360.revista de alta velocidad Automatic gauge changing for freight. The OGI project The third rail (c) implies solutions of great technical and operational complexity, that affect the existent services in the modified line and requires a complete upgrade of signalling, cate- nary and operational systems. The last solution (d) is very extended in passenger trains and services but it still has not been successfully developed in freight trains. One of the main reasons why it has not already been implemented in freight trains deals with the axle load and, more accurately, with the total weigh of the train. 2.2 The axle load and the weight of the train - different automatic variable gauge systems for passenger trains and freight trains The existent technology of automatic gauge changing mechanism for passenger trains entails to release the weight of the wheels to allow them to adapt the new position. That means that the weight of the train is not supported by the wheels during the change operation and it is the changeover platform that support the weight of the train while it passes through the changeo- ver facility. The axle load of most passenger automatic variable gauge trains in Spain is about 17-18 t/axle (e.g.Talgo 250 is 18 t/axle2). Consequently, the total weigh of a passenger train that passes through a variable gauge facility is about 250-280 tonnes for a simple train and no more of 500- 600 tonnes for a multiple-unit train. These variable gauge passenger train weigh is much lower than the axle load of a freight train. Nowadays freight rolling stock is designed for the standard 22,5 t/axle. This means, in the end, 25-32% increase compared with the previous passenger example of 17-18 t/axle. This variation and the fact that a 700m freight train could carry 1500-2000 tonnes or even more, depending on the track conditions, make it difficult to extend the current variable gauge technology to the freight trains. To develop a variable gauge technology to higher axle load and heavier trains, the first objec- tive is to be able to adapt the wheels to the new position without releasing the weight of the train from wheels. This entails a significant difference between the actual automatic variable gauge technology - valid for passenger trains - and the automatic variable gauge technology valid for freight trains. 2.3 The OGI project The OGI project that is being developed by the consortium TRIA-AZVI will mean an important step in terms of a new concept for the freight operation rail services and also in the construc- tion and gauge adaptation of new rail lines in Spain. This project consists on the development of two new automatic variable gauge systems for frei- ght trains and its certification according to the European standards. Both solutions are based on the OGI technology developed in the 70's for which has been necessary an important labour of re-engineering to adapt it to the current time. The two new variable gauge wheelsets are being certified for two different types of freight wa- gons and wheel diameters: 920 mm and 760 mm. The 920 mm wheel diameter is the one that mounts the standard bogie Y21 (valid for 1435-1668 mm gauge tracks) which is similar to the European standard bogie Y25 (just valid for 1435 mm gauge tracks). This type of bogie is the most extended all around Europe. The 760 mm wheel diameter is used in wagons for transport of cars. 2 Corporate catalogue - TALGO International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 73 Piqueras, Anibal. Saura, Joan. Paños, Francisco. In the homologation process a wagon series Sgnss (4 axle wagon, 920 mm wheel, bogie Y21, for transport of containers) and a wagon series Laaers (2 axle half wagon, 760 mm wheel, for transport of cars) have been used. One of the keys of this OGI wheelset refers to the fact that it is easily interchangeable. This means that it does not matter the series of wagon we are interested to equip with the OGI cer- tified wheelset 920 mm or 760 mm. 2.3.1 The homologation process of the OGI variable gauge system The homologation process for a variable gauge system is highly regulated in the EU and it also exists in Spain a great experience in the national variable gauge regulation due to its different 1668 mm track gauge. The legislation followed in the OGI project has been the Spanish ETH ("Especificación Técnica de Material Rodante Ferroviario: vagones").
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