Reprint - ABB Review 2/2010 by Rail 2 Switzerland by Rail | ABB Review 2/2010 - Reprint Switzerland by rail

Supplying traction power for the country’s major railway initiatives

REné Jenni, Remigius Stoffel, Melanie Nyfeler – Switzerland is generally considered a pioneer when it comes to public transport. In no other part of the world are trains, trams and buses used as often as they are in this small Alpine country. In fact, so beloved is the public transportation system in Switzerland that its people have repeatedly voted in favor of extending the already comprehensive rail network even further. The country’s aim is to carry more travelers on public transport and transfer more freight from road to rail. ABB is participating in this effort, supplying the power for the two new base through the Alps – the Lötschberg and the Gotthard – as well as DC traction substations for public transport in the conurbations around the cities of , and Luzern.

tudies repeatedly show that has not only increased the frequency of the Swiss are world champi- its timetable, it also continually upgrades ons when it comes to travel- its rolling stock. S ing by train. On average, each of the country’s residents travels 40 times When it comes to rail transport in an in- each year on Swiss trains, amounting to ternational context, the Alpine country about 900,000 people on the Swiss rail- also sets milestones and pursues an ac- road system every single day [1,2] ➔ 1. tive policy of transporting goods by train Not surprisingly Switzerland has the rather than truck, where possible. Today highest frequency of train services in the Switzerland is the most important transit world. country for goods crossing the Alps by rail. In 2008, 40 million tons of freight Thanks to the strategic transportation were transported through Switzerland, policy of the Swiss government, Switzer- more than half of which – around 25 mil- land has a very well developed rail net- lion metric tons – were transported by work, which ensures that rural areas can train [3]. Many referenda have also dem- be reached and offers rail connections onstrated the Swiss’ support for trans- between cities that operate every hour or port of goods by rail. An important step even every half hour. To meet the grow- in enabling such rail transport is the con- ing demand, struction of the New Railway Link through Photo © AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or SBB) the Alps (NRLA), which integrates

ABB Review 2/2010 - Reprint | Switzerland by Rail 3 1 Comparison of European railways (2007) [1] 2 Alpine base tunnels (©AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd.). Train route from , Switzerland to milano, Italy via the 57 km long Gotthard base

Country total km number of rail of train journeys per resident Switzerland 3,158 40 Luxembourg 275 33 Denmark 2,133 29 Austria 5,702 24 33,890 22 The Netherlands 2,776 20 Belgium 3,374 19 Czech Republic 9,460 17 France 29,918 16 Spain 13,368 11 Italy 16,335 9

Switzerland into the growing European transformers for connecting the two net- Switzerland’s second cross-Alpine link is high-speed network. Thanks to the two works of the local energy suppliers. powering ahead. The base tunnel of the NRLA axes – Gotthard and Lötschberg Gotthard is the heart of the NRLA and is – the annual capacity of goods trans- The second part of the order involved the expected to make a marked improve- ported by rail will more than double from 16.7 Hz traction power supply system. ment in travel and freight options in cen- 20 million metric tons in 2003 to around To connect Switzerland to the high-speed tral Europe. When it goes into operation 50 million metric tons once the two European network, the contact lines in in 2017, the will, at routes have been completed in 2017. the tunnel were specially designed for about 57 km, be the longest tunnel in the train speeds of up to 250 km/h. The trac- world ➔ 2. The building project is both Traction power for Lötschberg tion power supply system is designed in immense and pioneering. Creating the The Lötschberg base tunnel was opened such a way that several train configura- twin tubes with connecting crossways in December 2007 after a construction tions with up to six and means removing – in sections – a total and planning period of about 10 years. freight trains of up to 1.5 km in length stretch of 152 km of rock. This work will This new rail tunnel considerably reduces can be supplied with power simultane- be completed in autumn 2010. Installa- travel time from the north to the ously. Consequently, the switching and tion of the electrical equipment is already region of Switzerland in the south. Every protection equipment must be able to underway in some parts of the tunnel. day around 40 passenger and 110 goods handle short-circuit currents of over trains pass through the Alps at an alti- 40 kA. Here too, ABB is supplying the power tude of about 800 m – about double the engineering equipment. The company is numbers that pass through the much ABB installed air-insulated single-phase to supply gas-insulated medium-voltage higher link between Goppenstein and UniGear R36 switching panels, which of- switching panels and protection equip- Kandersteg, which has been used to fer maximum security to personnel and ment for the 50 Hz tunnel infrastructure. date also as a car shuttle. systems. The traction power supply as- The 875 medium-voltage units will pro- semblies, including its highly sophisti- vide a reliable supply of power and, at This once-in-a-century achievement, cated substation with numerous cross-galleries and huge automation and excavations for the technical systems, protection system, In 2008, 40 million metric tons also provided a tremendous challenge are installed in con- for ABB. The company was responsible tainers. The con- of freight were transported for the design, supply, installation and tainers are then through Switzerland, more commissioning of the 16.7 Hz traction placed in different power supply system and the 50 Hz en- operating centers than half of which were ergy distribution system. housing all systems required to safely transported by train. The supplied medium-voltage system operate the railway provides the power to the infrastructure system. Two local control centers near the same time, must withstand harsher for the lighting, signaling, communica- the northern and southern tunnel portals than usual climatic conditions while re- tions, ventilation and air conditioning sys- contain the workstations from which the quiring a minimal amount of mainte- tems, as well as the safety doors in the power supply systems are controlled and nance. entire tunnel. The medium-voltage distri- monitored. bution system includes 21 transformer The two parallel, single-track tunnel stations with UniGear ZS1 air-insulated The world’s longest rail tunnel tubes are connected to each other every medium-voltage switchgear, 30 distribu- To the east of Lötschberg and nearly in 325 m by a 40 m long crossway. The sys- tion transformers and two 5 MVA coupling the center of the country, the work on tems for supplying electricity to the tun-

4 Switzerland by Rail | ABB Review 2/2010 - Reprint 3 AlpTransit Gotthard tunnel overview (© AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. Adapted by ABB) 4 REF542plus is providing fault protection in the Gotthard tunnel.

nel infrastructure are installed in these ing the control cabinet, has been en- Urban transport system in Zurich cross-galleries, which serve as escape sured. The reliability and availability of ABB is not only providing the power re- routes between the two tunnel tubes ➔ 3. these systems is essential for safety in quired to cross the Alps by rail – the Because conditions in the tunnel are the tunnel. This task is primarily handled company’s power supply systems have harsher than usual – factors such as salt by the REF542plus multifunction protec- also been used successfully for light rail deposits, brake dust, soot particles and tion and control unit, which has been on and urban transport. In the Zurich region, abraded material from the rails and con- the market for more than 10 years ➔ 4. a new light rail system is being built, tact wires come in to play – ZX0-type which will link the adjacent Glattal resi- gas-insulated switchgear is used. An im- Over 500 units of this type have been dential and business area with the dy- portant feature of this switchgear is that ­installed at different points throughout namic center of the country’s largest city. it is extremely compact, with a field width the length of the tunnel. Here, the The 150,000 inhabitants and 120,000 of only 400 mm. By combining up to six REF542plus performs its most important fields to form a fully functioning switch- task using the newly developed, multi- gear block, it is possible to exchange stage distance protection. In order to ABB is supplying complete switchgear units within a very provide optimum selectivity in a network, short time in the event of a fault. This while at the same time provide a stable the 50 Hz tunnel functionality is critical for the operation of and reliable supply, fast identification of the Gotthard base tunnel, because rail the fault type and the location of the fault infrastructure with traffic will have to be interrupted when is important, so that just the faulty parts 875 gas-insulated access to the crossway is needed. of the network can be switched off. Infor- mation on both these points is trans- medium-voltage Exposure to the elements ferred immediately to the tunnel control Because the environmental conditions system. switching panels are so hostile, the relevant control cabi- and protection net must be designed to comply with REF542plus also enables remote ser- protective class IP65. In addition, a stan- vice. Not only is it possible to access equipment for the dard feature of the medium-voltage part stored programs and protective data re- of the switchgear is that it is gastight. motely via Ethernet LAN, but the data Gotthard tunnel. These design elements eliminate the risk can also be changed and replaced. To of any ingress of environmental elements date, REF542plus is the only protective employees in its catchment area will – ie, dust or water. equipment that offers this unique feature. benefit from the modern 12.7 km long Installation of the rail equipment has al- tram line, which is being completed in The intense fluctuations in pressure in ready begun and the 50 Hz supply is stages and will be finished by the end of the crossways place high demands on scheduled to start in 2011. The switch- 2010 ➔ 5. the materials. Because the trains pass gear will then operate for decades, help- the crossways at speeds of up to ing to safely transport millions of passen- As the main contractor, ABB is working 250 km/h, variations in pressure of gers through this unique tunnel system. with the local construction companies ±10 kPa are produced. Thus, pressure Implenia Ltd. and Walo Bertschinger to resistance of the ZX0 switchgear, includ- provide the entire energy supply system.

ABB Review 2/2010 - Reprint | Switzerland by Rail 5 Switzerland as a role model 5 glattalbahn on the Balsberg viaduct (Photo: Daniel Boschung) Thanks to its well-developed public transport network, Switzerland is con- sidered to be a positive role model and has influenced the trend toward the “ecological fast track.” Its government wants to protect the Alps and the people living in the most densely populated ar- eas of the country from the negative con- sequences of transit traffic. According to the director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport [4], there are also economic reasons why they must succeed in shift- ing traffic – and above all, the expected growth in such traffic – to the railway. ABB is playing a key role in this shift with its innovative railway technology. ABB is responsible for the design, sup- By 2012 ABB will ply, installation and commissioning of the rectifier substations providing the neces- deliver five rectifier sary traction power. The energy supply system includes eight rectifier substa- substations, which tions, which supply the contact line with will supply the city 600 V DC. The rectifier transformers are rated at 900 and 1,400 kVA, depending of Bern’s tram lines on the location.

with 600 V DC and ABB is also responsible for the low-volt- also provide appro- age main distribution system, which is supplying all 22 stops on the Glattal light priate protection rail line with the required power (230 V) so that ticket vending machines, infor- for the contact line mation boards and track switches all op- system. erate seamlessly. ABB has also installed the lighting, ventilation and fire alarm systems in the rectifier stations. René Jenni ABB Power Systems Development of urban transport Baden, Switzerland As is the case in Zurich, suburbs are [email protected] booming – in and around Bern, Switzer- land’s capital city, the volume of traffic is Remigius Stoffel also increasing. The city has opted for ABB Power Products, Automation & Protection the tram as a means of public transport. Baden, Switzerland In contrast to the trolleybuses used to [email protected] date, the two new tram lines create di- rect links between the west, town center Melanie Nyfeler and east of Bern. ABB Communications Baden, Switzerland By 2012 ABB will deliver five rectifier [email protected] substations, which will supply the tram lines with 600 V DC and also provide ap- www.abb.com/abbreview propriate protection for the contact line system. The RTU560D remote system References [1] SBB AG. SBB Annual Report 2008. Bern, will connect the rectifier substations to Switzerland. the higher-level control system operated [2] UIC (2007), cited by SBB AG. (2009). by the local utility. Statistisches Vademecum: Die SBB in Zahlen 2008, 27. [3] Swiss Federal Office of Transport. (March 2009). ABB is also carrying out other contracts, Freight traffic through the 2008. including one for the municipal transport Bern, Switzerland. authorities in to renew rectifier [4] Friedli, M. (2007, May 23). Schweizer Verkehr- substations for their trolleybus lines. spolitik: Konstanz und Innovation Referat (Swiss transport policy: Consistency and innovation lecture). Basel, Switzerland

6 Switzerland by Rail | ABB Review 2/2010 - Reprint Power to keep the trains on track? Absolutely.

ABB’s substation installations for the rail industry provide reliable power to the line and the vehicle, to keep main line trains, metros and mass transit networks on track. Optimized railway electrification solutions ensure availability and dependability of AC and DC power supply to enable high performance and efficiency. Our domain knowledge and global experience enables us to provide turnkey solutions and a worldwide presence ensures customer support throughout the lifecycle of the substation. ABB is the world’s leading supplier of air- and gas-insulated substations covering a range of voltage levels up to 1,100 kV, with a vast global base of installations. www.abb.com/substations

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ABB Switzerland Ltd Power Systems Bruggerstrasse 72 CH-5400 Baden, Switzerland Phone: +41 58 588 38 12 Fax: +41 58 588 23 35 www.abb.com/substations - 09.10 Printed in Switzerland 1KHA - 001 153, SEN reserved. is to technical progress © ABB Switzerland Ltd, September 2010. The right to modifications or deviations due