Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
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114<br />
<strong>Report</strong><br />
Market successes // Rail vehicle systems<br />
LEADER is a sophisticated<br />
train management<br />
system that<br />
improves the<br />
locomotive engineer’s<br />
ability to handle trains<br />
more economically<br />
and safely.<br />
LEADER accomplishes this improvement by displaying train-handling recommendations in the locomotive<br />
cab designed to save fuel, reduce in-train forces and assist in schedule compliance. LEAD-<br />
ER’s fuel savings also directly leads to emissions reduction by as much as 15%.<br />
The largest order for LEADER came from North American freight rail operator Norfolk Southern<br />
Railway, operating over 34,000 kilometers of track in 22 US states representing the most extensive<br />
rail network on America’s east coast. In all, Norfolk Southern Railway has ordered 1,125<br />
LEADER systems from NYAB, just over 1,000 of which were in use at the end of the year under<br />
review.<br />
NYAB has also received an order from the Union Pacific Railroad for 760 LEADER systems, approximately<br />
375 of which had been installed by the end of <strong>2012</strong>. Burlington Northern Santa Fe has ordered<br />
200 systems, more than 160 of which were installed by the end of <strong>2012</strong>. Brazilian operator VALE operates<br />
260 LEADER systems in service at year’s end.<br />
NYAB also concluded a framework marketing agreement with major North American locomotive<br />
builder Progress Rail Services – EMD. In the near future, plans envisage installing LEADER in the customer’s<br />
new diesel-electric locomotives in the factory during production.<br />
In <strong>2012</strong>, NYAB delivered LEADER Driver Assist (DA) software to Rio Tinto for use in its Australian mining<br />
fleet. Initial field demonstrations were successful and full field trials are underway. Software and hardware<br />
were delivered and installed on the 68-unit Rio Tinto locomotive fleet and will be operational in<br />
2013. NYAB has begun the design requirement phase for the Rio Tinto AutoHaul project that will lead<br />
to driverless trains in 2014 using LEADER software in conjunction with Ansaldo’s Automatic Train<br />
Operation (ATO) deployment.<br />
In a further evolutionary development a new functionality was added to LEADER in <strong>2012</strong> in the form<br />
of a cruise control system known as “Auto Throttle”, which will go into volume production in 2013.<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> supplies brakes, doors and HVAC systems to Los Angeles<br />
In the year under review, <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> benefited from an order placed by Los Angeles metro with<br />
Kinkisharyo International, the US subsidiary of Japanese manufacturer Kinki Sharyo, for 78 light rail<br />
vehicle car sets. <strong>Knorr</strong> Brake Corporation in North America was awarded the contract to supply<br />
the brakes, doors and HVAC systems for the new car sets with which the operator, Los Angeles<br />
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is expanding its capacity and modernizing its fleet.<br />
Delivery of the car sets is due to begin in the last quarter of 2015, but <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> is to supply initial<br />
subsets for installation in two prototype vehicles in the first quarter of 2014. On top of the 78 car sets<br />
ordered, the metro operator has taken out an option on a further 157 units.<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> to equip new light rail vehicles in Honolulu and Houston<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> is to equip the light-rail vehicles (LRVs) for two new mass transit lines being added to<br />
the commuter networks of the cities of Honolulu and Houston in the USA.<br />
The operating company in Honolulu, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, placed an order for<br />
80 driverless vehicles with Italian manufacturer AnsaldoBreda. The new LRVs are to handle commuter<br />
traffic in several years from now, on a 32-km line which is still to be built, running east-west through<br />
the city. US-based <strong>Knorr</strong>-Brake Corporation is to equip the vehicles with brakes, doors and HVAC systems.<br />
Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2015.