This year there were 146 world premieres, highlighting the importance of the event as a showcase of innovation and economic driver of the sector, said Christian Göke, chief executive officer, Messe Berlin GmbH.
Covering 2,152,782 square feet, this year’s event included 155 vehicles on the outdoor track display and 10 buses in the outdoor bus display. There were 3,062 exhibitors from 62 countries and they anticipate more than 130,000 attendees over the four-day event.
The bus display was first introduced in 2016 and this year the International Bus Forum was introduced to accompany the display. The theme of the forum is “Electric buses in public transport — The solution to attaining clean air and climate targets in urban transport?"
Ben Möbius, managing director, Verband der Bahnindustrie in Deutschland e.V. (VDB), said the rail industry is moving innovation forward in e-mobility and automated systems. Electric mobility is moving people with less impact on the environment and automation is affording transit operators to run on a tighter schedule to increase capacity. The essence of innovations for the railway industry, he said, is that it makes good sense and it’s great fun to ride rail.
Philippe Citroën, director general, Union des Industries Ferroviares Européennes (UNIFE), said there are several megatrends continuing to lead development in the railway industry and are expected to continue to the further growth in the market. Those include urbanization, population growth, globalization and increasing environmental awareness. The growth of the market is being driven by all product segments, he said, but also said it will undergo a massive transformation due to digitalization, automation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and innovative financing models.
Battery-Electric EMU: The Green Alternative to Diesel Trains
The Bombardier TALENT 3 battery electric multiple unit was premiered during InnoTrans 2018, showcasing its emission-free, energy-efficient, low-noise features.
The prototype vehicle is equipped with four Bombardier MITRAC traction batteries and can travel routes about 25 miles on non-electrified railways. In 2019, the next-generation battery-operated trains are expected to travel up to 62 miles.
Bombardier Chief Engineer, TALENT 3 Battery Train, Stefan von Mach, said they look at the 30 years total cost of ownership, not just the cost of the vehicle. According to a comparative study by the Technical University of Dresden, it saves cost over the service life. Von Mach stressed that energy management and energy consumption are an integral part of the project.
www.bombardier.com/en
World’s First Autonomous Tram
Siemens Mobility, together with ViP Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam GmbH, presented their research project on the world’s first autonomous tram on a 3.7-mile section of the tram network in Potsdam, Germany.
ViP provided a Siemens Combino tram for the project. The experimental vehicle is equipped with multiple lidar, radar and camera sensors to collect data while complex algorithms interpret and evaluate the data triggering actuators to execute a response.
The experimental vehicle runs in the non-restricted area, stopping at regular stops, and simulating door operation. During its demonstration run, it reacted autonomously to trackside signals and to hazards, such as crossing pedestrians and other vehicles.
The goal of the demonstration project is to identify technological challenges of autonomous driving under real-life conditions, leading to further developments.
The experimental tram is the next step to the future: more safety, more comfort.
https://www.siemens.com/global/en
Aptis Provides A New Mobility Concept
Alstom brings together its expertise in electric traction and rolling stock to offer a new concept in electro-mobility: Aptis. It was developed as a clean, highly efficient urban transportation solution. It applies the advantages of a light rail vehicle to a bus, bringing significant improvements to the travel experience and vehicle operations.
The 39-foot bus can carry 95 passengers. Passenger access is facilitated by up to three sets of double doors on either side of the vehicle and the interior is bright, with 20 percent more window area than other buses.
Aptis is low-floor throughout the vehicle the modular interior allows a variety of arrangements.
The battery unit is located on the roof and provides flexibility in terms of the power supply and charging system. It can be charged overnight, providing 6 hours of operation, or can be recharged in 5 minutes at the end of the line or can have opportunity charging at bus stops with Alstom's SRS fast-charge technology.
Aptis has four steerable wheels, which means it requires 25 percent less space on curves to significantly improve inner-city mobility. It also has park assist, enabling the vehicle to align with the edge of the pavement to facilitate boarding adn alighting.
https://www.alstom.com/
Optimum Accuracy from the Latest Counting Sensor
The sixth generation of counting sensors from Iris is the IRMA 6, providing optimum accuracy and reliability thanks to well-proven time-of-flight technology (ToF).
For train, tram, platform screen door, buses, or ferry boats, the IRMA 6 offers real-time capture of passenger load; precise revenue sharing facilitated by highly accurate monitoring of transportation services, based on revenue passenger miles and height classification of passengers; and demand-based management of fleet deployment.
The latest sensor has higher resolution and offers a wider area of coverage. The 80,000-pixel senor has 3D ToF.
IRMA 6 is all about the 3Cs:
• Collecting data
• Communicating data
• Crunching data
The sensor is IoT ready, connected right to the router and can help transit agencies provide passengers with more information in real time.
www.irisgmbh.de
INIT: Ready for e-Mobilty
“Ready for e-mobility” was the theme for Init’s showcase at InnoTrans 2018.
Electric buses are rolling out in cities around the globe and planning for electromobility will require smart systems to provide accurate data to help transit operators prepare a variety of analysis on things such as timetables, charging times, ranges and energy consumption.
INIT’s Intermodal Transport Control System (MOBILE-ITCS) provides an overview of important vehicle information for the dispatcher, including the current charge level and remaining range. Operators can set thresholds, which will then show a color indicator to reflect the remaining charge level and warnings in the status display. A warning can be displayed when a vehicle falls below a charge level or below the remaining range threshold.
MOBILEcharge can provide operators with intelligent charge management. It connects charging points, electricity supply and operational information systems to help in developing charge planning. Operators can predict energy requirements and load management.
INIT provides a comprehensive system for e-bus operation from planning stages prior to procurement through operating your fleet.
https://www.initse.com
Cetrovo from CRRC: The Next-Generation Metro
Cetrovo, the new metro from CRRC is a high-speed, environmentally friendly, intelligent design with a speed up to 87 miles per hour.
It is designed with a carbon fiber composite car body, silicon carbide permanent magnetic traction system, and an active radial and fully active suspension system bogie. The adoption of a split-mould modular design approach offers precision mouldings. The adoption of a hybrid sandwich structure for the side walls ensures they are light and stiff. Interiors and floors rely on ultra-light, ultra-strong environmentally friendly materials.
The train is 13 percent lighter, the noise is 3 dB lower and the energy efficiency is improved by 15 percent. It is an unmanned smart metro train, featuring flexibility in configuration.
The passenger information system is integrated with a search engine, entertainment and shopping channel system and can be accessed via smart screens in the windows.
An online operation and maintenance monitoring system provides real-time data to the operation and maintenance center, transforming the maintenance approach to improve rolling stock availability. By integrating and interfacing with information such as axle temperature, vibration, lateral stability, infrared pantograph monitoring, bogie infrared monitoring, and more, monitoring of on-board parameters is possible. In-motion and smart detection offers early warnings providing a train-based active maintenance system.
http://www.crrcgc.cc/en
Driving the Rail Systems of Tomorrow, Today
In our increasingly connected world, it’s no longer enough to get passengers and packages from Point A to Point B safely and efficiently. Today, railway operators and their passengers expect a seamless experience.
As critical parts of the nervous system of modern rail, ITT Veam’s durable, high-performance interconnect solutions help make that possible. ITT Veam showcased its highly engineered high-power and high-speed data interconnect technologies, ruggedized, harsh environment platings and more.
ITT Veam CIR M12 Data Connectors are built to bridge the gap between current data processing capabilities and customer demand. They have the ability to transfer data from Ethernet, WTB and MVB in a single connector. An important component of the latest generation of Italy’s high-speed trains, ITT Veam CIR M12 Data Connectors can support an industry-leading 10 Gigabit-per-second Ethernet (up to Class FA ISO/IEC 11801 channel performance). They were developed specifically for rail vehicle-to-vehicle interconnection. As a result, they’re helping manufacturers build fault-tolerant, future-proof Ethernet networks that adhere to the unique topology of the train and perform under even the most severe conditions.
https://www.connector-techals.com.au
Customer Comfort in a Compact Design
The Glasgow Subway is the third-oldest underground system in the world, starting commercial operations in 1896. The Victorian tunnel system required a very compact vehicle design, while still meeting the customer requirements for comfort.
Stadler's Metro Glasgow EMU has an optimum use of space, which was integral in creating the open and welcoming interior. The interior features a continuous floor height throughout the entire passenger compartment, six doors on each side of the vehicle, and a modern passenger information system and video surveillance.
The newly designed bogie with pneumatic suspension contributes to a smoother ride. They vehicles operate fully automatic and power is supplied via a third rail at 600V DC. They are designed for a maximum running speed of 36 miles per hour.
www.stadlerrail.com/en/
The Passenger of Tomorrow: A Need for Options
Fundamentals of the business are simple, said Bernard Tabary, Keolis CEO International: “A: safety, safety, safety, which is at the core of any mobility.” He continued, “Beyond safety, there’s the expectation of the basic features of dependability and information.
“People really want to trust the mode they are going to use and they want that level of attention and they want that level of information that makes them feel … knowledgeable.
“The sophistication of mobility on personalization,” Tabary said, “is something that will suddenly make mobility more pleasant.
“And the piece that’s our task is to facilitate that.”
Keolis is a transportation operator, operating public transportation networks on behalf of 300 transportation authorities around the world in 16 countries. It operates more than 10 modes of transportation, including trains, buses, motorcoach, bikeshare, carshare and autonomous shuttles.
Today’s transportation climate is facing its share of challenges, including the higher cost of mobility. As there continue to be a better utilization of assets, he believes that could trend downward.
The road to lower mobility costs is also through shared mobility. “ … parking and urbanization itself will change,” he explained. “You may have cities with investments in various modes of transport which suddenly don’t seem all that relevant anymore, where either the capacity or the scales will not be aligned with the new demands.”
www.keolis.com/en
UITP's Calvet: Leading the Public Transportation Discussion Around the Globe
As a trained civil engineer with more than 30 years’ experience in various sectors of public transportation, including both metropolitan and suburban rail systems, UITP (International Association of Public Transport) President Pere Calvet came to the role with a great deal of understanding about global public transportation.
Since 2011, Calvet has been the general manager of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) in Spain, a railway company that operates several lines in Catalonia, including metro and commuter lines in and around Barcelona; tourist mountain railways; and rural rail lines.
UITP is a global network that brings together more than 1,500 member companies and 18,000 contact members to work together to enhance the quality of life and economic well-being by supporting and promoting sustainable transportation in urban areas worldwide.
Calvet stressed that UITP’s goal is to be of practical service to its members and that means being at the forefront of trends impacting public transportation and providing the latest, relevant information and resources.
One development having people talking, he said, is digitalization. “People are always interested in access and development and we have many new mobility players entering the sector.”
In response, he said, this year UITP held its IT-TRANS Conference and Exhibition where many notable figures from across the industry gathered to debate digitalization, AI, cybersecurity and many more topical points. And in July, the UITP International Rail Conference and SITCE discussed digitalization in the rail sector.
“The important point to make,” he said, “is all developments in public transport can be exciting but traditional modes will always remain the backbone of urban mobility.
www.uitp.org
