Bombardier Transportation and the Augsburg Transport Authority (Stadtwerke Augsburg Verkehrs GmbH) have signed a cooperation agreement to install the contactless and catenary-free BOMBARDIER PRIMOVE system for trams as a pilot project in the city of Augsburg.
“We are delighted to extend our long and successful partnership with the Augsburg Transport Authority to include this innovative development in electric mobility. The PRIMOVE catenary-free technology is now mature for installation into a demanding urban tram network. Over time catenary-free operation will become a standard element of light rail systems and we are confident that PRIMOVE will be the clear choice for many cities in the future”, said Eran Gartner, President, Systems Division, Bombardier Transportation.
Josef Doppelbauer, Chief Technical Officer, Bombardier Transportation, added: “The PRIMOVE catenary-free system is a highly innovative contactless power transfer technology for urban rail vehicles. By dispensing with the need for overhead catenary, the PRIMOVE system will open up new opportunities for urban planners in the design of integrated transportation systems for cities. Our intention with this pilot project is to demonstrate full compliance and full functionality of our PRIMOVE solution during 2010.”
Norbert Walter, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Augsburg, commented: “Our expectation for the PRIMOVE pilot project is to gain further insights into new developments in energy management and energy savings in tramway operations. We will also cooperate with the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences for this. Public transport stands to benefit from this innovative project in the field of electric mobility.”
The PRIMOVE system will be installed on a 0.8 km section of Line 3 to the Augsburg fairground. The pilot project will enable Bombardier to demonstrate the technical capability and electromagnetic compatibility of the PRIMOVE solution in the urban environment. The installation work will start in the summer.
This cooperation agreement is a natural extension of the well-established relationship between Bombardier and the Augsburg Transport Authority. Bombardier already has the contract to supply a fleet of 27 new BOMBARDIER FLEXITY Outlook vehicles. Delivery of the new trams commenced in 2009 and will continue through to the end of 2010.
How the PRIMOVE technology works
When running on conventional systems, trams and light rail vehicles take their energy from an overhead electrical line. Equipping the tracks and the vehicle with the PRIMOVE components also allows operation without a catenary. Cables laid beneath the ground are connected to the power conditioning and supply network. They are only energized when fully covered by the vehicle, which ensures safe operation. A pick-up coil underneath the vehicle turns the magnetic field created by the cables in the ground into an electric current that feeds the vehicle traction system.
Efficiency with MITRAC Energy Saver
An additional benefit of the system is the integration of the BOMBARDIER MITRAC Energy Saver, which is mounted on the roof of a light rail vehicle: capacitors store the energy released each time a vehicle brakes and re-use it during acceleration or operation. Applied to light rail vehicles, the system has been proven to save up to 30 per cent of energy, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as costs of electricity generation.
Benefits of the PRIMOVE system
Among the advantages of the PRIMOVE catenary-free system are the completely hidden power supply, the irrelevance of weather and ground conditions as well as the easy installation. In addition, the contactless and very safe energy transfer system reduces wear on parts, limiting equipment lifecycle costs. When combined with the new MITRAC Energy Saver technology, the PRIMOVE system can also reduce energy consumption significantly. For historic centres such as Augsburg, one of Germany’s oldest cities, the PRIMOVE technology means that impressive cityscapes can now exist unencumbered by visual pollution from overhead lines.
The PRIMOVE solution is one of the highlights of the innovative BOMBARDIER ECO4 portfolio of products and technologies which offers energy and cost-efficient solutions for total train performance.
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