Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.

Report
119
India Rail orders brake calipers and discs for passenger trains
During the year under review India’s state railway operator India Rail ordered 550 new passenger train
cars from manufacturer Rail Coach Factory (RCF), which build the vehicles in collaboration with
Alstom at its Indian plant in Kapurthala. As part of this order, Knorr-Bremse is to equip the trains with
brake discs and calipers, with deliveries starting in spring 2013. In the course of its expansion of the
national rail infrastructure, India is planning to buy up to 2,000 new passenger cars per year in the
medium term – and Knorr-Bremse stands to benefit from these orders as well.
Smart Car application added to EP 60
Etihad Rail, the newly created operator of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national rail network, has
ordered 240 bulk freight cars from Chinese manufacturer CSR Yangtze Rolling Stock for the transportation
of pelletized sulfur. The cars are equipped with the field-proven EP 60 electro-pneumatic braking
system from Knorr-Bremse subsidiary New York Air Brake (NYAB). EP 60 transmits the air brake
signal from the locomotive to the cars over the train’s wired communication network. The brake signal
reaches every car at virtually the same time, so that the brakes are applied on each car simultaneously.
This prevents the typical train-handling challenge for pneumatic brakes on long, heavy trains
where the brakes on the front cars are applied while the rear cars remain momentarily unbraked,
resulting in potentially dangerous run-in force events.
In conjunction with
Australian mining
giant Rio Tinto, NYAB
is working on
controlling driverless
trains with LEADER.
In a major technology step, NYAB added Smart Car functionality to its EP 60 braking system. The 240
cars for Etihad Rail will be the first in the world where wireless Smart Car capability has been installed.
This new application utilizes the train’s existing EP 60 train-line communication network to
both control and verify the open/closed status of the loading hatches and unloading doors on the
cars. Perhaps the most important feature in the new Smart Car is the wireless hot-bearing sensors
included on each car. Along with the bulk freight cars, the operator’s seven new Progress Rail – EMD
locomotives will also be equipped with the appropriate Smart Car software, interfaced to the EP 60
system.
Knorr-Bremse develops LEADER AutoPilot for Rio Tinto
Knorr-Bremse’s LEADER system is a unique measuring and control technology for trains that results in
reduced fuel consumption, more efficient schedule management and a reduction of in-train forces.
It does so by evaluating the dynamic state of the train in real time and determining driving strategies
to improve overall energy efficiency. LEADER enables fuel savings of between 8% and 12% to be
achieved and also reduces in-train forces by up to 50%. The system also has a positive impact on
schedule management, helping to improve network utilization.
In the field of heavy freight trains Knorr-Bremse is currently supplying six major customers with LEAD-
ER systems. One is for Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto and represents the greatest challenge
so far in this field. Rio Tinto’s goal is to operate driverless trains by 2015, with LEADER taking over control
– which will involve extensive further technical development of the current LEADER system. However,
the operational improvements it promises are so convincing that the effort is well worthwhile.
The LEADER application being developed for Rio Tinto extends the system’s function from making
recommendations to taking over complete control of the train. “Leader AutoPilot”, as it is known, requires
active communication links with the network management system and the locomotive control
system in order to directly trigger train commands. LEADER optimizes the train setup, including
several locomotives and ECP braking systems.
The system’s core software is already capable of taking over this sort of control task, but at present
only passes on recommendations to the driver. In order to meet the safety standards necessary for