ABB 2 | 10

review
The corporate
technical journal

National and railway grids connect 42

Traction motors 66
Service for the rail industry 70
Recharging electric cars 77

Railways and
transportation
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2 ABB review 2|10

Contents

The railway 6

8
ABB, railways and transportation
The company’s portfolio at a glance
Rail solutions to the mobility challenge

perspective Interview with Michael Clausecker, Director General of

UNIFE, and Jean-Luc Favre, CEO of ABB Sécheron and
Head of ABB Rail Sector

Around the 14

19
On the fast track
ABB is contributing to high-speed trains
China’s rail revolution
world ABB technologies are helping transform China’s rail
network into the fastest and most technologically
advanced high-speed railway system in the world
24 Greener rail for India
ABB is helping upgrade India’s railways
31 Switzerland by rail
Supplying traction power for the country’s major
railway initiatives

Fixed 35 Knowing the FACTS

FACTS that enhance power quality in rail
feeder systems

infrastructure 42 Static converters, dynamic performance

Providing railway grids with the right frequency
48 Building on success
FSK II outdoor vacuum circuit breakers make
the connection for UK rail projects
51 Transforming ideas into movement
ABB vacuum cast coil dry transformers are doing
excellent (under) ground work in Istanbul

Trains in motion 55 Transforming suburban transport

ABB traction transformers helping to move millions
of commuters
60 A perfect fit
ABB’s powerful propulsion converters are compact,
reliable and efficient, making them suitable for all
vehicle designs
66 Standardizing the traction motor
ABB’s innovative modular induction traction motor sets
new heights in adaptability

Service and 70

77
Dedicated service
ABB offers a broad service palette for rail customers
Dawn of a new age
technology ABB’s electric vehicle charging units and smart grid
technologies are supporting the vision of a new era
of transportation
82 Power from shore
ABB shore-to-ship power solutions are cutting noise and
greenhouse gas emissions by providing docked ships
with shoreside electricity
84 S 3 – Speed, safety and savings
ABB’s new ultra-fast earthing switch

Perpetual 88 Electrifying history

A long tradition in electric railway engineering

pioneering
Contents 3
 Editorial

ABB and railways

Dear Reader,
Mobility is a central aspect of our lives and The freight sector is also experiencing exciting
activities. Whether we are commuting to work, developments. In Europe especially, more and
travelling for business or taking a vacation, we more countries are opening their rail freight
depend on a reliable and affordable means of markets to competition, leading to high levels of
locomotion. Furthermore, transportation does traffic growth.
not just affect us as individuals: The mecha-
nized movement of goods has permitted the While not a train manufacturer as such, through
concentration of industry and hence modern its expertise in the power and automation
manufacturing methods. Similarly, the existence sectors, ABB can offer many products and
of large cities depends on the ability to reliably technologies to the railway industry. Electric
and continuously supply them with food and railways are major consumers of electricity, and
Peter Terwiesch other necessities. this consumption can fluctuate strongly and in
Chief Technology Officer short time periods. ABB’s grid management
ABB Ltd.
Just as transportation helped create and technologies ensure power is delivered reliably
develop many aspects of modern society, while maintaining the stability of the supplying
insufficient transportation can be detrimental to grids. To transfer power from grids to railways
it. If goods cannot be delivered or people and to support the operation of both, ABB
cannot reach their destination in a reasonable provides substations and components (includ-
and predictable time, economic and other ing transformers, frequency converters,
repercussions can be heart felt. This challenge switchgear and FACTS devices). For the trains
is accentuated by ongoing developments: themselves, ABB’s offering includes traction
Growing urbanization is increasing strain on transformers, switchgear, motors, converters
infrastructure and adding to congestion. At the and turbochargers. This issue of ABB Review
same time, concerns over air quality, CO2, looks at these product types.
limited reserves of fossil fuels and also the
spatial footprint of transportation are calling for ABB has grown its rail activities considerably in
cleaner and more efficient solutions. recent years, growing from the position of an
outsider to a major supplier for several of the
Railways are well positioned to meet these leading train manufacturers. To present a
requirements. Within city areas, suburban broader industry perspective, ABB Review
railways and metros make an important interviewed Michael Clausecker, Director
contribution to relieving road congestion while General of UNIFE (Union of European Rail
offering a low carbon footprint, and if electrified, Industries).
zero emissions at point of delivery. Whereas
cities such as London or Paris are expanding Besides supplying the rail sector, ABB plays a
existing systems, many booming metropolises part in the broader spectrum of sustainable
in developing countries are facing the challenge transportation and electrical mobility. Activities
and opportunity of creating new systems from presented in this edition of ABB Review include
scratch. charging technology for electric cars and a
power supply to reduce the operating hours of
High-speed trains can provide an attractive ship engines while in port.
alternative to both driving and short-haul flights.
They are relatively weather-independent and Enjoy your reading
offer passengers a comfortable environment in
which to relax or work. Whereas the first
generation of high-speed trains ran in Japan
and Europe, they have considerably broadened Peter Terwiesch
their appeal. Soon high-speed trains will be Chief Technology Officer
running on five continents. ABB Ltd.

4 ABB review 2|10

Editorial 5
 1
14
11

2 5

3 4 6
8
16

15
13

12

18

7
10

ABB, railways and

transportation

6 ABB review 2|10

 9

19

17

A
s a major player in the power power substations with transformer-rec- speed ➔ 15 to suburban railways ➔ 16,
and automation sectors, ABB tifier units ➔ 10. metros ➔ 17 and tramways ➔ 18.
supplies many technologies
that serve the rail industry. ABB equipment can also be found Furthermore, ABB is not just a manufac-
FACTS devices support both supplying onboard trains. The company supplies turer but also provides service, mainte-
and railside grids and help maintain sta- traction transformers ➔ 11, motors and nance and retrofit. In the broader area of
bility and power quality ➔ 1. High- ➔ 2 generators ➔ 12. It also manufactures transportation, the company is involved
and medium-voltage switchgear ➔ 3, fre- converters to supply the train’s traction in marine applications and charging sta-
quency converters ➔ 4 and transform- and auxiliary power ➔ 13. The company’s tions for electric road vehicles ➔ 19.
ers ➔ 5 convert and supply power for the portfolio furthermore includes low-volt-
railway’s overhead lines (OHL) ➔ 6 and age products, medium-voltage circuit Discover more about these topics in the
control and monitoring systems ➔ 7 (in- breakers as well as semiconductors and pages of this edition of ABB Review and
cluding substation control and operation surge arresters. For diesel trains, the on www.abb.com/railway.
centers ➔ 8) permit the optimal operation company supplies turbochargers.
of these assets. Compact autotrans-
former modules ➔ 9 support the OHL ABB technologies and equipment serve
supply in long distance applications. DC in different types of rail applications,
electrifications are served by traction ranging from freight ➔ 14 through high

ABB, railways and transportation 7

Rail solutions to the
mobility challenge
Interview with Michael The mobility of people and goods is essential to today’s economy: Glob-
al trade is calling for the affordable and timely transportation of freight
Clausecker, Director over long distances. Business and tourism depend on people travelling
between cities. Growing urbanization means people are also commuting
General of UNIFE, and over longer distances within cities. At the same time, concerns over the
environment, energy prices and congestion are calling for ways to mini-
Jean-Luc Favre, CEO of mize the economical, ecological and spatial footprint of transportation.
ABB Sécheron and Head It is thus no surprise that governments across the world are rediscover-
ing railways. From urban metros through national and international high
of ABB Rail Sector speed trains to trans-continental freight corridors, railway investment is
growing. Michael Clausecker, Director General of UNIFE, and Jean-Luc
Favre, CEO of ABB Sécheron and Head of ABB Rail Sector, discussed
the challenges and outlook of tomorrow’s railways with ABB Review.

8 ABB review 2|10

 What are the major challenges and de- In the case of India, it is difficult to fore-
velopments that the railway industry will see when high-speed will become a real-
face in the next decade? ity. The main developments there today
Michael Clausecker: Let us start with are in metros and urban rail.
high speed. Today, major projects are
underway in France, Spain and Great Jean-Luc Favre
Britain. In the United States too, the de- We have to consider the effect of de-
bate about high-speed lines has finally mography. Most probably there will be
begun. Russia is making progress on the nine billion people on the Earth by 2050.
Moscow to St. Petersburg project. The There is also a strong trend towards ur-
Chinese are investing more than anybody banization. In 2008, for the first time, half
else and building thousands of kilome- of the Earth’s population was living in cit-
ters of high-speed lines. The sector is ies. There is a clear case for sustainable
experiencing massive growth. transportation and rail can deliver
that ➔ 1.
Where do you see future priorities?
Michael Clausecker: The vast majority In China, huge investments are going on
of high-speed connections today are na- in freight and passenger rail and also
tional: in France, Germany, Spain etc. electrification projects. The high-speed
There are of course also international network is growing at an astonishing
services, such as Eurostar or Thalys, but rate. For ABB, China has been the fast-
the further development of high speed in est growing market over the last two to
Europe will need to have a more interna- three years. Europe is also a strong mar-
tional focus. ket, but when it comes to network growth
and investments in new locomotives and
For governments, the key issue for the trains, it is in China that we are seeing
next 10 years will be investment in infra- the most significant developments.
Mr. Clausecker, could you briefly intro- structure. I believe we will see growing
duce UNIFE? In India too, we are starting to see proj-
Michael Clausecker: UNIFE 1 was set ects move forwards. Freight corridors are
up to support railway equipment manu- The future will see being created – freight can be moved
facturers in Europe. It does this: more efficiently in dedicated corridors.
1 By seeking technical harmonization more cross-border However, the fastest growing market in
and regulation of railway systems. India is metros. The government wants all
2 By lobbying for policies that are
freight transport in cities above three million to have a metro.
favorable to the development of the Europe. This will There are huge projects in Bangalore,
rail segment. Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi. We are also
3 By launching and supporting pro- call for more multi- expecting a high-speed market to emerge
grams to help member companies there in the next five to ten years.
conduct research jointly with railway
system locomo-
operators and by facilitating the
associated application for European
tives compatible to You have both mentioned urban trans-
portation. What are the main trends
funds. different voltages there?
4 By ensuring the superior quality of the Michael Clausecker: Large cities are
products of its member companies and signaling sys- becoming even larger, and with them the
throughout the entire value chain,
using its quality-management pro-
tems. importance of transportation. It is be-
coming more and more difficult for citi-
gram, IRIS 2. zens to get to and from work in the morn-
willingness to invest in rail, and also more ing and evening. Clearly public transport
UNIFE is funded by its members, who innovation in financing such schemes. is an efficient way to address that chal-
are all private European companies sup- This can include public-private partner- lenge. It is no surprise that we are seeing
plying to railways across the world. The ships and build, operate and transfer many major cities implementing transit
organization also has associate mem- models. systems, in particular in China. But even
bers (mostly national rail supply associa- cities such as Paris and London are
tions). There are about 70 companies in And in other parts of the world, such as struggling with traffic congestion and re-
UNIFE and almost 1000 in its national Eastern Europe or India? alize that they need to add transit capac-
associations. UNIFE thus speaks for the Michael Clausecker: I hope we will see
largest part of the European rail indus- the construction of the first high-speed Footnotes
1 UNIFE: Union des Industries Ferroviaires Euro-
try. line in Eastern Europe in the next decade.
péennes, (Union of European Rail Industries)
There is already a plan to start building a 2 IRIS: International Railway Industry Standard.
high-speed line in Poland by 2014. See also inset 7 on page 23.

Rail solutions to the mobility challenge 9

1 In 2008, for the first time, half the Earth’s population was living 2 Trams are not just environmentally friendly; they are also people
in cities. The importance of urban transit is growing. friendly. They contribute to making city centers more attractive.

ity to retain their positions as attractive quieter. But they are not just environ- How about freight railways?
and competitive places to do business. mentally friendly: They are also people Michael Clausecker: Due to the eco-
friendly. Trams contribute to making city nomic downturn, freight operators have
The development of urban transit will centers more attractive ➔ 2. So we see a had to mothball many locomotives and
continue to accelerate in the coming strong trend towards tramways even wagons. The first challenge in the com-
years. In particular, there is a push to en- though competition from bus makers is ing decade will be to return freight vol-
courage the private sector and individu- very inventive in seeking to emulate these umes to the levels of 2007. Only then
als to contribute. For example, land own- advantages at lower cost. can the equipment that has already been
ers around stations who make a built be used to its intended capacity.
contribution to transit development can We are also seeing a sort of grey area
benefit through the increased value of between the two in the form of trams Another trend will be towards a greater
their land or business. I also think that we running on tires … international use of locomotives. The fu-
will see more road pricing schemes of the Michael Clausecker: Anything is possi- ture will see more large rail operators,
type implemented in London. In both ble, and if it serves its purpose it should but also small companies providing
cases, users are making an increased be explored. When you compare trams transport across borders in Europe. This
contribution to the external costs of their with buses weight-wise, you can rightly will call for more multi-system locomo-
transport use, and in doing so supporting tives compatible with different voltages
the further development of public transit. and signaling systems.
Every kilogram
The developing world presents a special In other parts of the world, tendencies
challenge. There is little infrastructure in we save and are more difficult to recognize. But wher-
place and everything has to be devel-
oped from scratch. If we can support re-
every bit of addi- ever you look, locomotives are about ef-
ficiency and reliability and price. I’m sure
gional governments in proving that a tional space we that more and more customers will be
metro will attract investment capital, concerned about energy consumption
bring additional jobs and increase tax can provide to and overall lifecycle cost and as an in-
revenues, this can help those govern-
ments secure loans and create a clear
carry additional dustry we must be able to provide them
with data that enables them to compare
business case. passengers lever- products and options.

Smaller cities often require transit sys- ages the train’s Will increased competition raise the total
tems that are lighter and cheaper than volume of rail freight?
metros.
overall economic Michael Clausecker: Absolutely. Those
Michael Clausecker: There are two ten- and ecological countries in Europe that have really
dencies. In Germany, some towns are opened their networks to competition
introducing larger buses. Double articu- advantage. have seen traffic grown by between 60
lated buses are relatively cheap and do and 130 percent over the last 15 years.
not require special infrastructure. On the Furthermore, usually over the last five to
other hand, many new tramway projects ask whether they are facing the same six years, rail freight has grown faster
are being realized across Europe and in safety requirements. It is difficult to pre- than road freight. Assuming that further
the United States. Trams provide a high- dict how the market will develop, but the countries will open their markets, we can
er capacity than buses, and don’t share industry will not stop seeking ways of count on a continuation of this strong
their downsides: They produce zero making its product lighter and more com- growth over the next decade ➔ 3.
emissions at the point of use and are petitive.

10 ABB review 2|10

3 Privatization and competition are leading to massive growth in rail 4 The largest lever in to reduce transport emissions lies in shifting
freight: between 60 and 110 percent in the last 10 years. traffic from roads and air to railways.

If you compare the number of locomo- ways. These gains can be enhanced by
tives sold in the last decade, the number technological improvements on the trains The number of
has practically tripled compared to the themselves, but the largest contributor
1990s. Half of these locomotives are in remains the shift itself ➔ 4. locomotives sold
the hands of customers that didn’t even
exist a decade ago. The opening of mar- What can rail itself do to improve its car-
in the last decade
kets to competition is definitely growing bon footprint? The most important strat- has practically
the market for rail freight. egy here is electrification. It’s not a sur-
prise that if we look at the Unted tripled. Half of
Despite this growth, rail freight in Europe Kingdom, for example, where the major-
remains low compared to the United ity of railway lines are operated with die-
these are in the
States. sel trains, we see that the government is hands of custom-
Michael Clausecker: We have different thinking a bit more than other European
national markets, and the share of rail governments about using electrification ers that didn’t even
differs from country to country. Look at as part of its strategy to address climate
Sweden for example: a country which change and provide real and sustainable
exist a decade
geographically speaking can be com-
pared with the United States. Not in size
solutions in the transport sector. ago.
of course, but in terms of population So in terms of energy efficiency, the ball
density. Rail freight has a market share is with the governments?
above 30 percent – a figure comparable Michael Clausecker: Yes, but we have
to the United States. However, the US is to support such strategies by developing
not Europe, and rather than being a con- more attractive products that help rail-
tinent with population concentrated ways attract passengers and goods.
along the East and West coasts, Europe
has a much more distributed population. Concerning energy consumption, one
Transport distances are shorter making it great opportunity lies in capturing brak-
more difficult for railways to compete ing energy and using it for acceleration
with roads. or storing it on the vehicle or along the
lines.
However, I’m sure that with markets
opening and the development of more Jean-Luc Favre: The most effective way
international, trans-European rail paths, to shift people from air and road to rail is
we will see the market grow. to supply competitive and cost-effective
solutions. When we are moving passen-
Rail is already one of the most environ- gers at 350 km/h for example, every kilo-
mental and sustainable means of trans- gram we save and every bit of additional
portation. What can the rail industry do space we can provide to carry additional
to further reduce its carbon footprint? passengers leverages the train’s overall
Michael Clausecker: Let us put things economic and ecological advantage. We
into perspective. The largest lever in the will therefore continue to optimize our
hands of politicians today to reduce equipment in terms of space and weight,
transport emissions undoubtedly lies in but also reliability and efficiency.
shifting traffic from roads and air to rail-

Rail solutions to the mobility challenge 11

Normally we consider (besides Japan), The infrastructure industry is slightly dif- footprint. For example, we are already
Europe as one of the pioneering regions ferent. A typical structure involves the producing transformers in North Ameri-
for high-speed know how. Can these les- customer having its own people for main- ca, South America, China and India and
sons be applied in other parts of the tenance, but also tendering parts of the are local in all those markets. These are
world? work out to third parties. So we are look- the strengths of ABB as a global com-
Jean-Luc Favre: When it comes to tech- ing at a situation where we as suppliers pany and are just as applicable in the rail
nology for high speed and very high are to some extent competing with our sector as they are in other sectors.
speed, Europe is dominating the market customers, creating a rather different
together with Japan. However, we are business situation. As with rolling stock, It may sound surprising, but as recently
now seeing that in China, Chinese com- we can provide value to our customers as 2002, even inside ABB hardly any-
panies are developing their own high- because we often know the product bet- body knew what our involvement with
speed trains. There was even a recent ter than they do. By applying a mix of railways was. We had excellent technolo-
announcement that GE and a Chinese preventive and corrective maintenance gies but these were hardly known.
company were partnering to jointly de- we can reduce both costs and down-
velop high-speed corridors in North time. Where do you see the most significant
America. The market is developing quite current contribution to railway technolo-
well for newcomers. What is ABB’s role in, and contribution to gy? What constitutes ABB’s leadership?
UNIFE? Jean-Luc Favre: Our portfolio and foot-
So far we’ve looked at products and Michael Clausecker: ABB is a truly in- print makes us unique on the market. We
technologies. Another area that is grow- ternational and global company. This can work with all the different suppliers
ing in importance is service. makes ABB’s participation in UNIFE very and benefit from a strong technology
Jean-Luc Favre: There are markets valuable. ABB is still a relatively new base. We have all the key technologies
where contracts do not only include the member, and we at
delivery of the vehicle, but also encom- UNIFE and the oth-
pass the service for a period. But this er members are The largest lever in the hands
tendency is not universal. There are many keen to benefit
markets in which operating companies from ABB’s experi- of politicians today to reduce
prefer to continue to do all maintenance ence in foreign
in-house. markets and also
transport emissions undoubt-
to do business to- edly lies inshifting traffic from
Looking at liberalization, newcomers are gether. We are
primarily interested in operating trains heavily involved in roads and air to railways.
and moving people. They are therefore developing railway
more open to outsourcing maintenance. standards here in
On the other hand, incumbent operators Europe and are pleased to have ABB’s that are needed to bring traction power
typically have their own maintenance input and contribution, which I value. to the line and inside the vehicle. That is
shops and staff. Understandably, out- the main reason that we grew so fast
sourcing this kind of activity isn’t a prior- Jean-Luc Favre: In 2005, ABB decided over the last five years. We grew by more
ity for them. to develop its railway business. We’ve than 40 percent a year, more than 10
been incredibly successful in growing times faster than the market. Today, ac-
As far as our ability to offer service is sales from 200 million in 2004 to 1.3 bil- cording to my calculations, we rank
concerned, ABB is in the unique position lion in 2009. We work closely with the among the five major suppliers to the
of being able to offer a global service industry’s key players – Bombardier, Als- railway industry, supplying technologies
network: We are Chinese in China, Indian tom, Siemens – who are European com- to OEMs for end-users
in India and European in Europe. panies. For ABB, it’s really important to
be back in the railway market, working Michael Clausecker: ABB helps keep
Michael Clausecker: There is a differen- with these partners and participating in this industry diverse. We have seen quite
tiated picture between rolling stock main- UNIFE. We joined in June 2009 and are some consolidation in the rail supply in-
tenance and infrastructure maintenance. now also one of the Brussels representa- dustry. When we look at system integra-
For rolling stock, the only examples of tives of UNIFE members and also serve tors, there are rapidly growing manufac-
which I can think where industry did not on the infrastructure committe of UNIFE. turers such as Stadler, CAF, and Talgo.
just supply the vehicles but also provided The strong message we want to send to These companies rely on independent
the associated maintenance serve oper- this industry is that we are part of it and suppliers of traction and propulsion tech-
ators that are private companies. For us will be contributing to it in the long term. nologies, and ABB is clearly a leader
as manufacturers, involvement in service We have vital technologies including here, if I may say so. ABB is also impor-
has helped better understand the perfor- breakers, transformers, converters, semi- tant in terms of bringing technologies to
mance of our vehicles in day-to-day ser- conductors, motors, generators, turbo- the market, especially in view of its glob-
vice and close the feedback loop. This chargers and fixed installations. We can al approach which is helping experienced
allows us to use the knowledge gained supply electrification, AC and DC sub- European companies in offering their
to make better product and ultimately stations and their components. We can technologies to a world-wide market.
benefit our customers. offer a global production and know-how

12 ABB review 2|10

Jean-Luc Favre: Exactly. We are not requirements is also a goal worth pursu-
Michael Clausecker, UNIFE Director-General
only able to support our partners in Eu- ing). As common railway standards are
rope but also to work with them in China agrred on here in Europe, more and more
for example. We started to do business countries in the world are copying them
there with Alstom in 2004, because they or using them as a reference, hence the
needed to localize traction transformers. importance of our work in this area. We
Our supply to Alstom was limited before have seen China, for example, adopting
that, but now we have become important many of our railway standards. For ex-
partners. ample, the Chinese have adopted the
ERTMS 3 specification for signaling on
ABB is a large and diverse company. It new high-speed lines. They selected
has a global power and automation busi- ERTMS because it is the best developed
ness and a lot of experience and know standard in the world and because a
how in a broad range of fields. Do you large number of companies across the
Born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1966, Michael
see any areas in which the rail business world can offer products Clausecker studied business economics and
can benefit from this broader knowledge began his professional career at Daimler-
base? Benz, subsequently moving to the German
Privatisation Office. In 1993 he was appointed
Jean-Luc Favre: Most certainly. Let us
Managing Director at DWA Deutsche
look at traction motors, for example: Waggonbau AG, later Bombardier Transporta-
When we decided to design a new trac- tion, and led it to become the leading rail
tion motor, we could draw on the motor freight car manufacturer in Europe. 1999 saw
Clausecker become Head of Division at
technology and business of ABB, a busi-
Siemens AG in Erlangen and Munich with
ness of $2 billion. Similarly, we benefit worldwide responsibility for locomotives. In
from having a global supplier base. We 2001, he was appointed Managing Director of
use the same suppliers and also the the German rail supply industry association
– VDB and in early 2007, Clausecker was
same ABB factories for industrial motors
appointed Director-General of UNIFE. Michael
as we do for traction motors. If we look Clausecker holds an MBA from the Open
at transformers or converts we see a University in the United Kingdom.
similar picture.

Do you think the rail industry can learn

Jean-Luc Favre, Head of ABB’s railway
from the automotive industry? business and CEO of ABB Sécheron
Michael Clausecker: We can always
learn, but we must not copy blindly. We
looked at the auto industry when we
were reconsidering quality management
in our own industry, but then actually
benchmarked our system to that of the
aviation sector. We are in a position to
look at different industries and cherry
pick the methods that are most applica-
ble to us.

It is interesting to observe that many

people in our industry are coming out of
Born in Thonon, France, in 1962, Jean-Luc
the automotive industry: management Favre began his professional career as
and purchasing organizations for exam- electrical engineer at BBC. Following a
ple. three-year experience at IBM, he was
appointed manager of the transformer
business at ABB Sécheron SA in Geneva.
One difference between our industry and Michael Clausecker is Director General of UNIFE.
In 2001 he became General Manager of the
automobiles is that the lot sizes we work Jean-Luc Favre is CEO of ABB Sécheron and Head company and was appointed Head of ABB’s
on tend to be much smaller. We try to of ABB Rail Sector. railway business in 2005. Jean-Luc Favre
holds a degree of electrical engineering from
counter that by platforms and standard- This interview was conducted by
the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne.
ization (strategies also found in car man- Andreas Moglestue of ABB Review.
ufacturing). This helps us create product [email protected]
platforms which we no longer sell only in
one country but sometimes across the
globe. The key here lies in the clever de- Footnote
3 ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management
sign of the product platform permitting it
System) is a European initiative working towards
to meet different standards (obviously a single standard for signaling and train control
the international standardization of those systems.

Rail solutions to the mobility challenge 13

On the
fast track
ABB is contributing to high-speed trains
PASCAL LEIVA, MELANIE NYFELER – The importance of mobility is growing.
It is becoming more and more common for people to travel distances of
hundreds of kilometers between major cities for work or leisure. This is
increasing pressure on motorways, railways and short-haul flights. Con-
cerns over carbon emissions and congestion of road and air space are
causing many countries to reassess their transportation policies. Studies
show that traveling by rail requires a quarter to one-third the CO2 of the
same trip by plane or car 1. High-speed trains are particularly effective at
taking pressure off short-haul flights and bringing cities closer together.

14 ABB review 2|10

 13,469 km of high-
speed lines are
under construction
and 17,579 km
are planned. The
world’s high-speed
network could
reach 41,787 km
by 2020.

T
he Eurostar service through – Use of train sets rather than conven- cord of 331 km/h. Notably, the trains and
the Channel Tunnel cut journey tional locomotive and cars formations. catenary used were closely based on
times between Paris and Lon- These offer better power-to-weight equipment that was used in everyday
don to 2 hours 15 minutes and ratios, aerodynamic conditions, service. This demonstrated the safety
now represents 70 percent of the travel reliability, safety, etc. margins of the technology and indicated
market between the two capitals [1]. The – Use of dedicated high-speed lines on the feasibility of the commercial opera-
Madrid-to-Barcelona high-speed link re- at least part of the journey. Such lines tion of high-speed trains.
duced intercity travel time to 2.5 hours are built to sustain high speeds
and grabbed 50 percent of the market. (through their choice of transverse Day-to-day speeds, however, remained
High-speed trains have scored similar sections, track quality, catenary, much lower, with the fastest trains
successes on the Paris-Lyon, Paris-Brus- power supply, special environmental operating at top speeds of around
sels and Hamburg-Berlin lines (among conditions, etc.) However, one 160 km/h ➔ 1. The first commercial train
others). In the wake of these successes, strength of high-speed trains is that that can be considered high speed in the
governments across the world are seek- they can also operate on conventional modern sense is the Japanese Shink-
ing to invest in high-speed railways. lines with certain restrictions [2], so ansen. It was inaugurated in 1964 on the
reducing the necessary investment or 515 km line between Tokyo and Osaka,
Speed ≥ 250 km/h permitting a phased introduction. and initially operated at a top speed of
High-speed trains can offer numerous – Use of advanced signaling systems, 200 km/h (increased to 210 km/h the fol-
advantages: These include reduced jour- including in-cab signaling. lowing year). This route is still the world’s
ney times, increased frequency, comfort, busiest high-speed corridor, carrying
safety, reliability and less environmental Development of high speed trains more than 360,000 passengers every
impact. The International Union of Rail- As early as 1903, a speed of 210 km/h weekday. Today, Shinkansen trains oper-
ways (UIC) defines high speed as opera- was attained using an experimental
tions of at least 250 km/h (the maximum three-phase electrification in Germany,
Footnote
speed for conventional lines is 200 to demonstrating the aptitude of electric
1 The environmental impact of a journey in
220 km/h). Typical attributes of high- traction for high speeds. In 1955, a se- Europe can be calculated on
speed trains are: ries of tests in France culminated in a re- www.ecopassenger.org.

On the fast track 15

Environmental performance of rail 1 The development of high-speed rail

5.0 120 600

4.7
4.5
98
4.0 100 500
Carbon dioxide (tons)

85

Carbon dioxide (kg)

3.5
400

Speed (km/h)
80
3.0
2.4
2.5
60 300
2.0
1.5 40 200
1.0 26
0.6
0.5 20 100

0.0
Truck Train Inland 0 0
EURO4 waterway Car Train Plane 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Year
CO 2 emissions by transport type Carbon dioxide (CO2) Speed record
(100 tons cargo, Basel – Rotterdam, 700 km) (2 people, Berlin – Frankfurt, 545 km) Regular commercial operation

Source: www.ecotransit.org, 2008

ate at a top speed of 300 km/h, with Velocidad Española) trains. The top – Network management systems
higher speeds being planned. speed of these trains will be 350 km/h. – System analysis and dynamic traction
power supply simulations
France inaugurated its first TGV (Train à Today, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Grande Vitesse) train in 1981, connect- Spain, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Static frequency converters
ing Paris and Lyon (417 km). The initial Japan, Korea and the United States have Much of the electric energy used by rail-
maximum speed of 260 km/h has incre- high-speed lines in operation. China, ways is drawn from national grids. How-
mentally been raised to 320 km/h. At Iran, the Netherlands and Turkey have ever, for historical reasons, the frequen-
1,900 km, France today has Europe’s systems under construction and Argen- cies used for railway electrification often
largest high-speed rail network. There tina, Brazil, India, Morocco, Poland, Por- differ from these grids. The state-of-the-
are plans to increase this to 4,000 kilo- tugal, Russia and Saudi Arabia have art solution is converters using power
meters by 2020. SNCF, RFF 2 and Alstom systems under development. Globally, electronics ➔ 3.
Transport hold the world speed record of there were 10,739 km of lines for
575 km/h, achieved on a test run in April 250 km/h or greater in 2009, with almost FACTS for power quality
2007. 1,750 train sets in service [3]. A further Modern traction systems present de-
13,469 km of lines are under construc- manding challenges to supply grids.
tion and 17,579 km are planned. The Usually, the single-phase railway supply
ABB has strategic world’s high-speed network could reach is connected between two of the three
41,787 km by 2020 [4]. phases of the national grid. It can hence
alliance contracts cause a substantial imbalance in a net-
ABB has been playing a major role as a work not originally built for this kind of
with many rolling supplier to the railway industry for sev- operation.
stock manufac- eral decades. Drawing on its expertise in
the power and automation sectors, the ABB offers different solutions to maintain
turers including company is contributing reliable and power quality in grids. Dynamic shunt
cost-efficient solutions for both infra- compensation devices of the SVC or
Alstom, Bombar- structure and rolling stock. STATCOM types use power semicon-
dier, CAF, Siemens, ductors to control reactive power. Thanks
Infrastructure to their cycle-by-cycle controllability, they
Skoda and Stadler. ABB designs, engineers, constructs and can counteract even the most rapid volt-
commissions complete traction power age transients and protect the grid from
supply products, systems and solutions. serious voltage variations. Additionally,
Spain, however, plans to surpass The company supplies a comprehensive they can control the grid’s voltage profile
France’s high-speed network in terms of range of traction substations containing and raise its stability limit, enhancing grid
length. It is envisioned that by 2020, all the necessary switchgear and fault capacity while making it more robust,
90 percent of all Spaniards will live within analysis equipment. ABB’s portfolio in- flexible and predictable.
50 km of a station served by AVE (Alta cludes:
– Products for traction power supply A total of four SVCs have been supplied
applications for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (the
Footnote – Traction substations for AC and DC high-speed line linking the Channel Tun-
2 SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de
applications nel to London). Each of the three feeding
Fer Français) is the French national railway
company. RFF (Réseau Ferré de France) is the – Static frequency converter stations. points is supported by an SVC on the
French railway infrastructure agency. – Power quality systems traction side of the transformer. The

16 ABB review 2|10

2 Transformers for Spanish high-speed lines 3 Static frequency converter projects

ABB won the contract to supply all trans- ABB is currently realizing the world’s largest
formers for the Barcelona-Figueras section and most powerful static converter system in
of the AVE line that will connect Madrid via conjunction with E.ON Kraftwerke GmbH of
Zaragoza and Barcelona to the French Germany. This converter system is rated at
border. These transformers will be located 413 MW and connects the 50 Hz national grid
in the substations along this section at Baro to the 16.7 Hz railway grid. The completion of
de Viver, Riudarenes and Santa Llogaia. the order is scheduled for 2011. Other static
frequency converters supplied to German
The contract was awarded by the SILFRA- Railways include the eight 15 MW units at
SUD consortium, made up of Siemens and Limburg supplying the high speed line
Inabensa, and consisted of four transformers between Cologne (Köln) and Frankfurt am
of 60 MVA, 405 / 27.5 kV produced in ABB’s Main. Converters have also been supplied to
Cordoba factory and two transformers of the Austrian and Swiss railway operators.
60 MVA, 220 / 27.5 kV made in ABB’s Bilbao
factory, Spain. For more information on these projects,
please see “Static converters, dynamic
Since 1990, ABB has supplied a total of 85 performance” on page 42 of this issue of
transformers for high-speed lines all over ABB Review.
Spain, and it is also the selected supplier
through a frame agreement signed with ADIF
(the Spanish rail infrastructure administrator),
which covers the supply of traction transform-
ers until 2014 and includes 52 additional units.

fourth SVC is used for load balancing. – It must be compact in terms of size gain of up to 20 percent). The transform-
This technology is discussed more fully and weight. ers ABB is supplying for both AGV and
in “Knowing the FACTS” on page 35 of – Many transformers must deal with Velaro are compatible with Europe’s main
this issue of ABB Review. multiple voltages and frequencies due railway voltages and frequencies.
to the different electrification systems
Transformers used across Europe (and sometimes Traction converters
A high-speed train can draw consider- within one country). ABB has supplied traction converters for
able power, especially while accelerating. the retrofit project of DB’s (German Rail-
Transformers convert the grid voltage to An ABB traction transformer was used ways) ICE-1. This is discussed in the in-
the correct line voltage for the rail- on the record-breaking AGV train that at- set on page 76.
way ➔ 2. tained 575km/h in April 2007, ABB is
supplying traction transformers for the Motors
Rolling stock high-speed trains of Alstom (AGV) ➔ 4, Together with Bombardier, Ansaldo Bre-
Manufacturers of high-speed trains are Siemens (Velaro) ➔ 5 and Bombardier da, Alstom, and Firema, ABB is part of
continuously refining their designs to (ZEFIRO) ➔ 6. the Trevi Consortium supplying the
meet rising demands in terms of perfor- ETR 500 to Trenitalia (Italian railways).
mance, efficiency and reliability, and are The evolution of market requirements Trenitalia chose to electrify its new high-
placing similarly high demands on their has led to the following situation: While speed lines at 25 kV AC rather than the
suppliers. In recent years, ABB has ex- “classical” European high-speed trains 3 kV DC used on the classic network.
tended its expertise for traction trans- such as the ICE-1 and the TGV are pow- Therefore, between 2006 and 2008 the
formers and is now the world leader in ered by dedicated
this field. The company has strategic alli- power units at the
ance contracts with the rolling stock ends of the train, An ABB traction transformer
manufacturers including Alstom, Ansaldo the new generation
Breda, Bombardier, CAF, Siemens, Sko- of high-speed trains was used on the record-
da and Stadler. Various types of traction
transformers have been designed and
such as the Velaro
and the AGV use
breaking AGV train that
delivered to practically all railway integra- traction distributed attained 575 km/h in April
tors and are in use all over the world. along their entire
lengths. This per- 2007.
Traction transformers mits a better use of
A traction transformer is a key compo- adhesion due to
nent of a train’s onboard traction chain. the lower power required per axle. Fur- 3 kV ETR 500 fleet was upgraded for dual
Special criteria it must fulfill include: thermore, by placing the complete trac- voltage capability. In February 2006 the
– It is a single transfer point for energy tion chain under floor (including trans- trains commenced regular service at a
between catenary and motors, and formers, converters, motors and control commercial top speed of 300 km/h on
must therefore meet high reliability equipment), practically the full length of the new high-speed lines connecting
levels. the train is available for passengers (a Milan to Turin, Florence, Rome and Na-

On the fast track 17

4 AGV: Transformation at speed 5 Velaro: The new generation 6 Orders for China, Spain and Italy

SNCF, RFF and Alstom Transport broke the In June 2009, Siemens Mobility selected to In September 2009, Bombardier Transporta-
world speed record for classical wheel-on-rail use ABB transformers for their flagship Velaro tion announced that its Chinese joint venture,
technology in a test run on April 3, 2007, high-speed train for DB (Germany Railways). Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation
during which the train reached 575 km/h. Ltd., was to supply 80 ZEFIRO 380 km/h
The new generation of AGV-trains (Auto- Two traction transformers will be fitted to high-speed trains for the country’s rapidly
motrice à Grande Vitesse) of Alstom every eight-car train. In order to reduce growing high-speed rail network *. ABB will
Transport will attain commercial speeds of weight, the secondary windings of these supply the traction transformers.
360 km/h. An increased use of composites transformers also serve as line inductances
and aluminum allowed Alstom to make the for the power converters when the train is ABB Sécheron also supplied the traction
AGV lighter: An entire train weighs 395 t operating under a DC power supply. transformers for the AVE high-speed trains
(compared with 430 for a TGV) and uses that Bombardier is jointly producing with
15 percent less power. See also “High-speed transformation: Talgo (Talgo/Bombardier AVE102 and Talgo/
Transformers for the Velaro high-speed train” Bombardier AVE130) for RENFE (Spanish
The first new AGV train will enter service in on pages 64–67 of ABB Review 4/2009. Railways) and for the ETR 500 for TrenItalia
late 2011 in Italy and be operated by a new (Italian Railways).
private company: NTV (Nuovo Transporto Picture: Siemens press picture
Viaggiatori). NTV has ordered 25 trains. Picture: Bombardier press picture

Picture: Alstom Transport

Footnote
* See also “China’s rail revolution” on the
following pages.

ples. ABB delivered more than 280 trac- and the replacement of first-generation
tion motors for the ETR 500. For more high-speed trains will commence soon in
information on ABB’s traction motors, France and Germany. Developments in
see “Standardizing the traction motor” on the eastern European, South American
page 66 of this edition of ABB Review. and North African markets are also likely
to lead to growth in the high-speed
Fast growing market market. In the United States, President
Looking at present orders and deliveries, Barack Obama has vowed to spend
2,500 high-speed trains capable of run- $13 billion over five years to develop
ning at over 200 km/h will be in operation high-speed rail links between major cit- Pascal Leiva
ies. The outlook for high-speed rail is ABB Sécheron Ltd.
bright. Geneva, Switzerland

2,500 high-speed [email protected]

trains capable of Melanie Nyfeler

running at over ABB Switzerland, Communications

Baden, Switzerland

200 km/h will be [email protected]

in operation world-
wide by the end References
[1] Crumley, B. (2000, June 8) Working on the

of 2010. Railroad, Time Global Business.

[2] Glover, J. (November 2009) Global insights into
high speed rail, Modern Railways.
[3] UIC, (January 2009) High speed rail, Fast track
worldwide by the end of 2010. China to sustainable mobility.
alone has 10,000 km of new high-speed [4] Barron, I. (updated 14 June 2009) High speed
lines in the World, UIC high speed department.
lines under construction and an addition-
[5] Wolf, A. (April 2009) Demand for high speed
al 3,000 km are planned [4]. The western trains continues to rise, International Railway
European market is also still growing, Journal.

18 ABB review 2|10

China’s rail revolution
ABB technologies are helping transform China’s rail
network into the fastest and most technologically
advanced high-speed railway system in the world

CÉCILE FÉLON, FRÉDÉRIC RAMELLA, HARRY ZÜGER – Rail is In addressing these issues, the Chinese government has been
perhaps the principal means of transporting large numbers of generously funding the upgrade of conventional railway lines,
people and goods in China. However, for many decades rail and the construction of tens of thousands of kilometers of
journeys tended to be long and very uncomfortable. In addi- high-speed passenger lines since 2004. Many home-grown
tion, the geographical vastness of the country meant millions and imported technologies, some of which have come from
simply had no access to any form of rail travel. Then along ABB, are employed to supply a rail network that will be the
came decades of strong economic growth that brought with it envy of many countries when it is completed. ABB is the
a desire to open the country up to further development and leading supplier of power products – in particular traction
trade. While this growth has created a middle class who is transformers and switchgear – to the Chinese electric locomo-
considerably wealthier than the generations before, the down- tive segment. The company’s strengths and technology
side is that many have abandoned the bicycle in favor of the leadership are well recognized by its partners in the global rail
car. The result is serious traffic congestion and an increase in industry and are fully demonstrated in a variety of projects
China’s already fast-growing greenhouse gas emissions. discussed in this article.

China’s rail revolution 19

 1 Leading-edge BOMBARDIER ZEFIRO technology enables operating speeds of 380 km/h.
Source: Bombardier pictures press

Plan” the total operating rail network will nologies from around the world. For its
exceed 120,000 km by 2020, and the part, ABB has supplied and will continue
percentage of double tracks and electri- to supply advanced power solutions to
fied railways will surpass 50 and 60 per- support China’s vigorous railway and ur-
cent respectively. China will complete ban metro construction efforts.
construction of four north-south and four

O
ver the years, countries such east-west passenger lines, as well as in- Transforming rail transport
as Japan, Italy, France, Ger- tercity passenger rail networks connect- To begin with, equipment, such as ABB’s
many, Spain and South ing developed and densely populated well-known and innovative traction trans-
Korea have developed in- former, has been installed in many of
credibly speedy train networks. This list China’s locomotives and electric multiple
can now be extended with the addition The Chinese gov- unit (EMU) trains. These transformers are
of China. In fact as of December 2009, high capacity, compact and light-weight,
China can boast the fastest express train ernment has been and are highly resistant to mechanical
in the world on what is considered the
longest high-speed track on the planet at
generously funding impact and heat resistance, which in turn
makes them very reliable. As essential
1,068 km. The train runs from the central the upgrade of components of a train, the transformers
city of Wuhan, through the provinces of also contribute to the energy efficiency of
Hunan and Hubei and down to Guang- conventional lines, rail transportation.
zhou at the south coast at a top speed of
350 km/h, transforming a 10.5 hour jour-
and the construc- ABB traction transformers first entered
ney into one that takes no more than tion of tens of the Chinese railway market in 2004 when
three hours! they were selected for Bombardier’s
thousands of kilo- Regina trains, more popularly known in
This is but one example that demon- China as CRH1A and CRH1B 1. ABB de-
strates the continuing success of China’s
meters of high- livered traction transformers for the
ambitious and rapid high-speed rail de-
velopment program. As the country’s
speed passenger CRH1A and CRH1B 2 EMU trains that

economy and population continue to ex- lines since 2004. Footnotes

pand, the need to spread economic de- 1 CRH refers to high-speed trains. The number
velopment is an important goal that is succeeding these three letters is a reference
best achieved if a proper and speedy rail areas, with the total length of high-speed to the company supplying the train, and in this
case “1” represents Bombardier Transporta-
network is in place. When the major rail passenger lines topping 18,000 km by
tion while “3”, for example, indicates the train
lines are completed by 2020, it will be- 2020. Almost three-quarters of this or was manufactured by Siemens. The letter(s) or
come the largest, fastest and most tech- 13,000 km (8,000 km of which will be number(s) that follow – A and B in this instance
nologically advanced high-speed railway 350 km/h lines) is expected to be com- – refer to the different versions of a train.
2 Most CRH1 trains were allocated to the
system in the world. pleted by 2012 [1].
Guangshen Railway to replace all locomotive-
hauled trains between Guangzhou and Shen-
According to China’s “Middle and Long China’s high-speed trains use a wide zhen in Guangdong Province. Some are also
Term Railway Network Development range of domestic and imported tech- used on the Shanghai–Nanjing rail line.

20 ABB review 2|10

 January 2007. Also in 2007, these two
2 ABB’s traction transformer are used for Siemen’s Velaro high-speed platforms.
companies signed another contract
worth 1.2 billion euros for the delivery of
500 HXD2B electric 6-axle locomotives.
The HXD2B locomotive, also called CoCo
in China, was designed by Alstom.

The traction transformers for both the

HXD2 and HXD2B locomotives were
supplied by ABB to Alstom, in a repeat of
what have been past and successful
ABB/Alstom collaborations ➔ 4. And fi-
nally, ABB will also supply traction trans-
formers for Alstom’s HXD2C electric
locomotives in the near future.

Switching into gear

Traction transformers are not the only
power products supplied by ABB. For
the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed rail
project, ABB supplied a series of other
can reach speeds of up to 250 km/h In 2009, ABB was contracted by Datong products, including its 27.5 kV ZX1.5-R
(155 mph) in regular service. In Septem- Electric Locomotive Co. Ltd. (DELC) to and 10 kV ZX0 GIS switchgear, as well as
ber 2009, Bombardier Sifang Power won assemble traction transformers for the the SAFE-series SF6 insulated switch-
a further contract to supply the Chinese CRH2 (a modified E2-1000 series Shink- gear that are used in the railway signal
ansen design from system power supply ➔ 5. The ZX1.5-R
Japan) and to GIS switchgear are modular and flexible
ABB’s well-known and inno- manufacture trac- single busbar two-phase panels and
tion transformers were specially designed at ABB China’s
vative traction transformer for the CRH5 EMU medium-voltage technical center to ad-
trains (manufac- dress the highly specific railway power
has been installed in many tured by Alstom supply requirements of China’s electrified
of China’s locomotives and and Changchun high-speed railways. Manufactured by
Railway Vehicles). ABB Xiamen Switchgear Co. Ltd., ZX1.5-
electric multiple unit (EMU) Also in 2009, ABB R GIS switchgear use up to 70 percent
was contracted to less space than other conventional prod-
trains. upgrade the trac- ucts. Insulation is provided by SF6, which
tion transformer is well known for its remarkable physical
design for the Ka- characteristics, especially its excellent
Ministry of Railways with 80 Zefiro 380 wasaki-derived CRH2-380, an EMU train insulating capacity. With fewer mainte-
very high-speed (VHS) trains 3 ➔ 1. A total capable of speeds of up to 380 km/h. nance requirements, customers are able
of 1,120 rail cars will be built for China’s to lower their total investment and oper-
6,000 km of new high-speed railways Growth in freight transportation ating costs. Their deployment in substa-
and ABB will supply the traction trans- A growing economy requires better and tions will help provide safe and reliable
formers for all these trains. faster rail freight transportation if such power along the entire rail line.
growth is to be sustained. To meet this
ABB traction transformers can also be demand, the Ministry of Railways has
found on some of Siemens Mobility Ve- also been enhancing its railway freight
laro high-speed platforms (trains) ➔ 2. transportation capacity by increasing
Known as the CRH3-380, these trains and upgrading its entire freight network, Footnotes
3 The Zefiro 380 very high-speed (VHS) trains are
are capable of service speeds of up to with of course the support of ABB ➔ 3.
based on Bombardier’s Regina family
380 km/h and can be seen on the Bei- 4 The first three 380 km/h EMU trains went into
jing-Tianjin 4, Wuhan-Guangzhou and In 2005, Alstom and DELC signed a 350 operation on the Beijing-Tianjin dedicated pas-
Zhengzhou-Xi’an dedicated passenger million euro contract to manufacture a senger line prior to the opening of the Olympic
Games in Beijing in 2008.
lines. The transformers were supplied by total of 180 electric 8-axle locomotives
5 ABB Datong traction transformer Co. Ltd.
ABB Datong Traction Transformers Co. HXD2 6. This type of locomotive, used by (CNDAT) was founded in 2005 and is a joint
Ltd. 5 (CNDAT), after being awarded the the Daqin railway company Ltd., trans- venture between ABB (China) Ltd. and Datong
contract by Tangshan Railway Vehicle ports coal to power plants and factories Electric Locomotive Co. Ltd.
6 Until now, the HXD2 locomotive has been
Co. Ltd. (TRC) and Changchun Railway around China. The first HXD2, also
considered the best – in terms of power
Vehicle Co. Ltd. (CRC), two of the main known as BoBo, was completed in De- (10,000 kW) and speed (maximum of 120 km/h)
train makers in China’s railway market. cember 2006 and arrived in TianJing in – heavy-load freight train in China.

China’s rail revolution 21

3 Some passenger and freight railway facts 4 Alstom’s HXD2B electric locomotive.
and figures for China Source Alstom Transport pictures press

– Some 33,300 freight trains running

everyday transported approximately
3.3 billion tons of merchandise in 2007.
− Each year, the transport of goods, such as
coal, iron and food increases by about
200 million tons
− In 2008, 68 new projects were started
to develop 11,306 km of (freight and
passenger) railway.
− At the end of 2008, there were 18,437
locomotives in China, including 6,305
electrical locomotives.
− At the end of 2009, the length of the rail
network in China was 86,000 km. By
2012, it is expected to increase to
110,000 km.

The very same switchgear are also used change activities to share leading rail
As well as traction in the Zhengzhou-Xi’an express passen- technology with other institutes.
ger line, which spans 485 km and is ca-
transformers, pable of supporting a top speed of According to the agreement, ABB will

ABB supplied its 350 km/h. The travel time between the
two cities, Zhengzhou in central Henan
donate advanced railway traction power
equipment, including gas-insulated
27.5 kV ZX1.5-R and Xi’an in the northwestern Shaanxi switchgear, vacuum circuit breakers, in-
province, has been slashed from six sulated ring main units and models of
and 10 kV ZX0 GIS hours to less than two. The line, part of a box-type substations specially designed
major east-west railway artery between for railway use. In addition, ABB’s senior
switchgear, as well Xuzhou in Jiangsu province and Lanzhou technicians will provide training on a reg-
as the SAFE-series in Gansu went into operation in February ular basis. After its establishment, the
2010 [2]. In addition to the Wuhan- center, affiliated to the Electric Traction
SF6 insulated Guangzhou and Zhengzhou-Xi’an ex- Education Department, will serve as the
press passenger line projects, ABB has university’s engineering research center.
switchgear for the also participated in the Wuhan-Hefei,
Wuhan-Guangzhou Shanghai-Hangzhou, Shanghai-Nanjing,
Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou, Wenzhou-
Pierre Comptdaer, vice-president of ABB
China, said that “ABB . . . closely coop-
high-speed rail Fuzhou, Fuzhou-Xiamen and Guang- erates with a number of nationwide uni-
zhou-Shenzhen-HongKong line projects. versities. Working with the country’s
project. In the urban metro sector, ABB has leading universities not only bolsters in-
contributed to metro and light rail con- novation at ABB, but also helps to culti-
struction projects in Beijing, Shanghai, vate new talent for the development of
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing and many industries.” Chen Feng, vice-presi-
Changchun. dent of Beijing Jiaotong University, add-
ed that “Cooperation on electrified rail-
Sharing knowledge way training . . . promotes vocational
In January of this year, ABB announced it training while improving our ability to
would set up the ABB Electrified Railway conduct leading edge research. The
Training Center in cooperation with Bei- training center will allow us to … support
jing Jiaotong University 7 ➔ 6. The center, the rapid development of China’s railway
complete with advanced railway traction construction.”
power equipment donated by ABB, will
support the development of the high-
speed electrified railway industry in China
by providing teaching, scientific research
and training facilities for both the techni- Footnote
7 Beijing Jiaotong University, under the jurisdic-
cal personnel employed by the Ministry
tion of the Ministry of Education, is an official
of Railways, and teachers and students training school of the Ministry of Railways and is
of the university. It will also organize ex- famous for its innovations in railway technology.

22 ABB review 2|10

5 ABB’s ZX1.5-R gas insulated medium- 6 ABB and Beijing Jiaotong University set 7 The International Railway Industry
voltage switchgear for railway application up the Electrified Railway traing center Standards (IRIS)

ABB Sécheron, ABB’s center of excellence

for power products for the rail sector and
ABB Datong Traction Transformers Co. Ltd.
are both certified by the International Railway
Industry Standards (IRIS). IRIS is an interna-
tionally recognized standard for the evaluation
of railway industry management systems. It
was developed by UNIFE, the Independent
Association of European Railway Industries,
and is supported by system integrators,
equipment manufacturers and operators such
as Bombardier Transportation, Siemens
Mobility, Alstom Transport and Ansaldo Breda.
An interview with the Director General of
UNIFE, Michael Clausecker, can be found on
pages 8 to 13 of this issue of ABB Review.

Pierre Comptdaer, Vice President of ABB China

(left), Chen Feng, Vice President of Beijing Jiao-
tong University (right)

This is not the first collaboration between people. In fact, high-speed rail is likely to
ABB and a Chinese university. In fact, be just as fast as air travel at half the
ABB has consistently supported educa- price! According to Si Xianmin, chairman
tion in China to ensure the availability of of China Southern Airlines, the largest
highly skilled technicians. For example, domestic airline by fleet size, “High-
in 2008 the company set up the ABB speed rail has three advantages over air
Power Technology Education Center in travel: it is more convenient, more punc-
Tongji University and supplied it with a tual and has a better safety record. This
complete set of transformer substation could help erode the airlines’ market
and feeder automation products as well shares.”[3] In addition, a good rail net-
as primary products, such as medium- work may help spread economic devel-
voltage switchgear, a ring main unit opment more quickly and evenly around
(RMU) and outdoor products, to encour- the country.
age more advanced teaching and re-
search. In addition, ABB also cooperates The success of ABB in the Chinese Rail-
with Tsing-Hua University, North China way market is based on the close coop-
Electric Power University, Tianjin Univer- eration between ABB Sécheron and ABB
Datong ➔ 7. While
ABB Sécheron is
The ABB Electrified Railway the global leader in
design, research Cécile Félon
Training Center, in coopera- and development, Frédéric Ramella

tion with Beijing Jiaotong marketing

sales as well as
and Harry Züger
ABB Power Products

University, will support the service of power Geneva, Switzerland

products for the [email protected]
development of the high- rail sector, ABB [email protected]

speed electrified railway Datong focuses on

the production of
[email protected]

industry in China. traction transform-

ers for the Chinese References
market. ABB is [1] High-speed rail in China. (nd) Retrieved March
2, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
sity, Shanghai Jiaotong University and currently positioning itself in the Chinese
High-speed_rail_in_China.
Chongqing University on various re- EMU market to become the supplier of [2] China daily (2010, February 6). Zhengzhou-Xi’an
search projects. choice of power products and systems high-speed train starts operation. Retrieved
for China’s increasing number of com- March 2, 2010 from http://www.chinadaily.com.
cn/regional/2010-02/06/content_9439243.htm.
Being connected muter trains.
[3] The Economist (2010, February 4). China’s
By improving connections, China’s high- dashing new trains. Retrieved March 2, 2009
speed rail network will no doubt make from http://www.economist.com/blogs/
travel available to ever larger numbers of gulliver/2010/02/high-speed_rail_china.

China’s rail revolution 23

Greener rail
for India
ABB is helping upgrade India’s railways

LALIT TEJWANI – Since India’s (and indeed Asia’s) first train steamed from Mumbai in
1853, India’s railway network has grown to more than 64,000 route km. It now
transports approximately 2.5 million tonnes of freight and 19 million passengers
every day. This article looks at some of the developments that are preparing India’s
railways for the future, and shows how ABB’s technologies can make railways
greener and more efficient.

24 ABB review 2|10

 1 Indian Railways electrified routes as of 31, March 2009

Status of electrification on Indian Railways

R.K.M = route km
MG = meter gauge

R.K.M.
AS ON 31.03.2009

1 Section already electrified up to 31.03.09 18,942

2 Targets (Core) 2009 – 2010 1,238
3 Targets (Core) 2010 – 2011 1,000
4 Works in progress (Core), (incl. 2 & 3) 3,836
5 Works with RVNL / Zonal railways 1,448
6 Missing links / Identified routes 14,702
7 D F C route 3,293 Km
8 D F C feeder route 1,742 Km

I
ndian Railways (IR) is one of the
world‘s largest railway systems un- Planwise progress of electrification ob IR (First electric train started on 3.2.1925)

der single management and the larg- Plan

Period
Pre.
Indep. 1st 2nd 2rd
Annual
plan 4th 5th
Inter
plan 6th 7th
Inter
plan 8th
9th
1997-
10th
2002-
11th
up to
est employer in the world with ap- 1925-47 1951-56 1956-61 1961-66 1966-74 1969-74 1974-78 1978-80 1980-85 1985-90 1990-97 1992-97 2002 2007 31.3.09
R.K.M.
388 141 216 1,678 814 953 533 195 1,522 2,812 1,557 2,708 2,484 1,810 1,299
proximately 1.4 million staff. Organiza- Electrified
R.K.M.
tionally IR is owned and controlled by the Cumulative
388 529 745 2,423 3,237 4,190 4,723 4,918 6,440 9,252 10,809 13,517 16,001 17,811 18,942*

Government of India. Day-to-day opera- Source: http://www.core.railnet.gov.in/_MapElectrificationofIR_eng.htm

* 168 R.K.M. MG electrified line dismantled

tions are managed by the Railway Board.

In addition to being a rail operator, IR is
unique compared with other major rail of rail transportation, electric traction has India’s early electrification projects used
operators in having its own rolling stock established itself as the most energy ef- DC, but since the 1950s, all new projects
manufacturing facilities. IR manufactures ficient. Since 1925, when India’s first have used single-phase 25 kV / 50 Hz. IR
approximately 3,000 coaches annually electric train ran in Mumbai, there has draws its power from the 220 / 132 / 110
as well as 500 diesel and electric loco- been a major push for electrification: As / 66 kV / 50Hz three-phase regional grids,
motives, and major aggregates such as of March 31, 2009, IR had electrified converts it for traction power require-
wheels, axles and traction motors. 18,942 route km, which is 28 percent of ment and supplies it to trains using over-
the country’s total railway network. The head line (OHL) electrification. Currently,
As of March 31, 2008 IR’s fleet consisted target is to electrify 1,500 km of existing IR consumes more than 2,000 MW of
of 47,375 passenger coaches, including lines every year ➔ 1. power, mainly through a national network
EMUs (electric multiple units). There are of 400 traction substations.
almost 8,400 locomotives in operation, On main lines, electrification has permit-
3,400 of which are electric. Electric trains ted the operation of heavier freight and Since 1980, IR has been automating its
currently account for more than 65 per- faster passenger trains. By virtue of their substations with microprocessor-based
cent of freight traffic and over 50 percent high acceleration and braking capability, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
of passenger traffic. EMUs are ideal for suburban services 1. (SCADA) systems to permit their remote
Another important catalyst for electrifica-
Sustainable growth tion has been India’s will to reduce its
Footnote
Development of the railway network has dependence on costly imported fossil
1 Electric multiple unit (EMU) refers to coaches
gained higher priority in recent years due fuels. By centralizing the generation and used for (mostly suburban) train services that
to urbanization, mobility issues and se- distribution of energy, electric traction have multiple prime movers for each car. The
vere road congestion. Rail transportation furthermore offers the advantage of re- same car that carries passengers also has inte-
grated motive power, as opposed to the normal
is far more energy efficient, economical duced air and noise pollution for travel-
situation where the passengers are in coaches
in land use and cost-efficient than road ers and the environment. that are not self-propelling and a locomotive
transportation. Among the various modes hauls the train.

Greener rail for India 25

control and operation. A divisional SCADA
2 BORDLINE M 180 kVA auxiliary converter 3 STATCON panel used to control reactive
facility can control a region extending (H Module) power power flows
some 200 to 300 km. SCADA allows re-
mote monitoring of electrical parameters
(voltage, current, power factor, etc.) in
real time and the remote operation of
switchgear, as well as automatic fault
detection and isolation. This facilitates
better control of demand peaks, trouble-
shooting, etc. SCADA is replacing an old-
er system that was based on electrome-
chanical remote-control apparatus.

ABB’s contribution
Challenges that IR is currently faces on
many of its electrified lines include the
following:
– Wide voltage variation between 17 and
31 kV, mainly due to the line imped-
ance varying with the position of trains
– Poor power factor (in the range of
0.7 to 0.8) caused by the inductive
nature of the traction load, and the
ineffectiveness of existing fixed
capacitor banks to adequately
compensate dynamic loading
– Low-order harmonics injected into the GTO-based. IR has launched a program point when compared to GTO-based
traction network by conventional to upgrade these locomotives with IGBT- traction converters.
locomotives using DC traction based propulsion converters 3. IR selected – Improvement in the quality of motor-
ABB’s ’s BORDLINE CC series of water- current waveform leading to reduced
These characteristics cause high system cooled converter, which is based on motor losses, torque ripple and better
losses, reactive power absorption, and 4.5 kV low-loss HiPak™ IGBTs. The most ride quality.
interference with sensitive electronics in important accrued benefits are:
signaling and telecommunication equip- – Enhanced tractive effort, performance In conventional IR locomotives with DC
ment. ABB is deploying state-of-the-art and availability due to use of axle con- traction system, rotary converters were
technology to address these issues and trol and a new generation of adhesion- used to generate three-phase supply
improve overall efficiency and availability. control system. (3 × 415 V / 50 Hz) required by machine-
room auxiliaries. In addition to the high
Traction transformers maintenance requirements of such rotary
AC electric locomotives and EMUs draw In order to meet converters, their drawbacks include poor
power from the single-phase 25 kV OHL, voltage regulation, low input power fac-
and then convert it to a lower voltage for rising passenger tor, low conversion efficiency, presence
the traction motors using the traction
transformer. Besides high demands on
traffic, and offer of lower order harmonics at output and
lack of diagnostic facilities. To overcome
reliability and performance, traction more competitive these limitations, rotary converters are
transformers must also be compact and gradually being replaced by static power
lightweight and display high efficiency. intercity travel, IR is converters.
ABB is the world’s leading manufacturer
of traction transformers, and can supply
improving passen- ABB caters to this market with its ener-
them for different sizes, shapes and ger facilities, in- gy-efficient air-cooled BORDLINE M180
power ratings, permitting installation in auxiliary converters that utilize solid-state
different parts of the train ranging from creasing platform IGBTs to generate a sinusoidal and bal-
the roof to the under-floor area 2. In India,
ABB traction transformers are success-
lengths and intro- anced three-phase voltage supply 2. This
solution, featuring an active PWM (pulse-
fully running in high-power electric loco- ducing more train width modulation) rectifier at the input,
motives, EMUs, and metros.
services. Footnotes
Vehicle Propulsion & On-Board Auxiliary 2 See also “Annual Year Book, Indian Railways,
2007-08” and “Emerging Technologies &
Power Supply – Improvement in overall power-convert-
Strategies for Energy Management in Railways,”
In IR’s locomotives with three-phase drive, er efficiency due to lower semiconduc- October 2008.
the propulsion converters were originally tor losses for an equitable operating 3 See also www.abb.com/railways

26 ABB review 2|10

 only penalize IR when the power factor is
4 FSKII 25kV outdoor breaker to 5 ABB turbochargers for Indian diesel
IR specifications locomotives lagging, but in some cases also when the
power factor is leading as a result of over-
compensation. Sub-stations thus need
reactive power compensation that can be
adjusted dynamically and in real time.

ABB’s STATCON is a voltage source

converter / inverter that can both absorb
and deliver reactive power ➔ 3. It uses
IGBT switching devices and is modular,
permitting future expansion should de-
mand rise.

STATCON is shunt-connected and there-

fore easy to install. It totally relieves the
source from reactive power, resulting in
better utilization of the supply equipment
TPR 61 type turbocharger and network. Also by providing very fast
dynamic compensation, it improves volt-
age profile and reduces system losses
and hence the loading on incoming pow-
er transformers, switchgear, cables, etc.

FSKII outdoor breaker

IR uses 25 kV outdoor circuit breakers
and interrupters in all of its traction sub-
stations and switching posts. In consul-
tation with IR, ABB has developed its
FSKII magnetic actuated range of break-
ers and interrupters that offer increased
reliability due to radically fewer moving
parts 2. The magnetic actuator is a bi-
stable device, meaning that it does not
require energy to keep it in the open or
VTC 304 type turbocharger closed position ➔ 4.

enables unity power factor (cos φ) opera- Turbocharger

Indian Railways (IR) tion and lowers line-side harmonic dis- Every year, IR rolls out approximately 300
tortion. Furthermore, the converter’s new diesel locomotives from its two
is one of the controlled startup and sinusoidal wave- plants in India. ABB turbochargers have

world‘s largest rail- form reduce stress on motor insulation,

eliminating the need for special motors.
been boosting the performance of these
locomotives since 1975. High-efficiency
way systems under These converters are customized to me- turbochargers such as ABB’s TPR 61
chanically and electrically fit into existing and VTC 304 improve reliability and re-
single management locomotives, permitting them to be retro- duce fuel consumption by 5 percent ➔ 5.
fitted ➔ 2. ABB is also involved in IR’s emission-re-
and the largest duction program, and is performing over-
employer in the Reactive power compensation hauls on turbochargers. IR’s workshops
The power requirement of trains across have also built rolling stock for export to
world with approxi- the network is characterized by its high more than 10 Asian and African coun-
variability in demand. In addition, traction tries. ABB’s turbochargers are also fre-
mately 1.4 million converters inject low-order harmonics quently used on such export locomo-
staff. into the traction network. The line voltage tives, not least because of the global
is thus prone to high fluctuations. IR con- presence of ABB’s service network.
ventionally employs fixed-shunt capacitor
banks at most substations to compen- Urban transportation
sate the lagging power factor. The draw- According to the 2001 census, India has
backs of switched capacitor banks are 300 cities with a population of more than
the coarse size of the switching steps and 100,000, and 35 cities with a million or
their response time. Power suppliers not more – compared to only five cities in the

Greener rail for India 27

6 Delhi Metro Rail Corporation 7 DMRC SCADA control room

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was incorporated to implement and

operate a mass transit system in the Delhi area. ABB has been a partner of
DMRC since 2002 and provided products and systems for both the traction
power supply and rolling stock. These include traction, receiving and
auxiliary substations, overhead electrification, SCADA systems, integrated
building and asset management solutions, and traction transformers and
motors. The system is electrified at 25 kV / 50 Hz. It features ABB’s compact
gas- and air-insulated switchgear, 25 kV pole-mounted vacuum interrupters
and circuit breakers with magnetic actuator mechanisms.

DMRC is the first independent metro operator in India, and has proven to
be a role model for on-time project execution and efficiency. DMRC is now
providing consultancy services to most of the new metro projects in India,
and is also taking on international consulting assignments.

Phase I of the metro, comprising a route length of 65.1 km, was completed
in 2006. Phase II, set to be completed in 2010, will add a further 128 km.
Upon completion of this second phase, daily passenger trips are expected
to reach 2 million per day. DMRC plans to have 381 km of metro operational
by 2021.

Of the total 193 km of phases I and II, ABB has executed or is implementing
the electrification of approximately 163 km.

latter category in 1951. Approximately Today, Kolkata and Delhi ➔ 6 are the only availability as well as savings on mainte-
30 percent of India’s population lives in two cities to have operating metro sys- nance and spare parts ➔ 7.
urban areas, which contribute 55 percent tems. Besides ongoing expansion of
of the GDP. India is being urbanized at a these systems, new metro projects are Because of its experience with DMRC,
faster rate than the rest of the world: Mi- at various stages of implementation in as well as metros in Mumbai and Banga-
gration is adding millions to urban popu- Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and lore, ABB has emerged as the leader in
lations every year. This urban growth is Hyderabad. In Delhi, Mumbai, and Ban- terms of market share for turnkey electri-
exerting increasing pressure on infra- galore, independent metro operators fication, SCADA and power products for
structure. The deterioration of urban are procuring their own coaches accord- metro rail networks in India.
ing to international
specifications and Future outlook
An important catalyst for elec- global tendering India’s growing industrialization and popu-
processes. With lation present an ever increasing need for
trification has been India’s will an increasing num- transportation. Riding on the waves of

to reduce its dependence on ber of projects,

annual demand for
economic success, IR has witnessed a
dramatic turnaround leading to an unprec-
costly imported fossil fuels. metro coaches is edented financial turnover in the last few
expected to grow years. This has been made possible by:
beyond 1,000 – Higher freight volumes without
transport systems can rapidly lead to coaches within the next few years. Bom- requiring substantial investment in
lower economic productivity. Urgent bardier Transportation has already set up infrastructure
measures are thus needed to improve a coach factory in western India and is – Increased axle loadings
urban transportation. supplying coaches for Delhi Metro. Other – The reduction of turnaround times for
international transportation companies rolling stock
Public transport occupies less road and Indian rolling-stock manufacturers – The reduced unit cost of transporta-
space and causes less pollution per pas- are also seeking to enter this business tion
senger-km than personal vehicles. Of the through collaborations and technology – The rationalization of tariffs resulting
wide variety of public transport options tie-ups. in an increased market share for
available, high-capacity rail-based metro freight.
systems are deemed to be the most suit- SCADA
able for India’s densely populated cities. Delhi’s DMRC ➔ 6 needed one unified In the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12),
Under the aegis of the Ministry of Urban SCADA control center (with backup), and investment in the railway sector is esti-
Development, the central and local state hence sought to upgrade and integrate mated at $65 billion 4. Almost 17 percent
governments are setting up independent the old SCADA system and RTUs 5 with
organizations to advance urban trans- the new system without losing operating Footnotes
4 See also “Projections of Investment in
port development. Solutions selected in- time. ABB’s latest MicroSCADA Pro sys-
Infrastructure during Eleventh Plan,
clude build-own-operate models with tem provided one common system for GoI report”(October 2007)
private partnerships. the complete network and delivered high 5 RTU: remote terminal unit.

28 ABB review 2|10

of this investment will be via public-pri- Freight alent to one third of its cars and only
vate-partnership (PPP) projects in the Although the freight business is a signifi- one-fourth of its planes 6. In India, feasi-
freight and high-speed corridors, urban cant revenue earner, and also helps sub- bility studies have already been initiated
transport systems, rolling stock manu- sidize IR’s passenger business, passen- for a high-speed corridor to link Mumbai
facturing and captive-industrial and port ger trains are given a higher priority in and Delhi at 350 km/h. Further links are
connectivity. scheduling. To nevertheless improve likely to be added in the future.
freight throughput and offer industry bet-
In order to meet rising passenger traffic, ter transit times, the Dedicated Freight IR is continuously adopting new energy-
and offer more competitive intercity travel, Corridor (DFC) project is being advanced saving and renewable-energy options in
IR is improving passenger facilities, in- featuring 3,300 km of double-track lines rolling stock and non-traction loads 7.
creasing platform lengths and introducing and is budgeted at $12 billion. DFC will These initiatives range from redesigning
more train services. IR needs to acquire permit freight trains with higher axle load- the air-conditioning and lighting systems
more than 4,500 coaches annually for ings to run at 100 km/h (compared to the in passenger coaches to harnessing so-
main-line services (660 of which should current average of 25 km/h). The western lar power for station facilities, or using
be air conditioned). Current captive man- DFC between Mumbai and Delhi is ex- wind farms to supply power to manufac-
ufacturing facilities are not able to meet pected to carry mostly container traffic turing units. Due to their lack of guaran-
this requirement, and this is limiting the from the ports on the western coast, teed availability, such renewable sources
launch of new train services and the rate whereas the Delhi-Howrah eastern DFC are not suitable for traction loads. They
of replacement of old coaches. To in- will carry mostly bulk cargo such as coal, are, however, deemed suitable for sta-
crease the supply, IR is by itself and in iron ore, steel, etc. As part of the DFC tionary non-traction loads. Drawing on
partnership with private manufacturers project, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) both available technologies and experi-
is to be developed ence and the force of innovation, India is
with foreign fund- on its way to establishing a more efficient
DMRC is the first independent ing and expected rail network for its future.
to be completed
metro operator in India, and by 2015.

has proven to be a role model High speed

Lalit Tejwani
ABB Ltd, Marketing and Sales (Railways)

for on-time project execution High speed rail Kolkata, India

takes pressure off [email protected]
and efficiency. roads and short-
haul flights and so
setting up new production units. New die- reduces air pollution, congestion, noise Footnotes
sel and electric locomotive production fa- and accidents, and also frees travelers 6 See also The Hindu (7 Jan. 2010) “Encouraging
cilities using the PPP model are also be- from the frustrations of traffic congestion high-speed trains,” and “Vision 2020,
Indian Railways”(December 2009).
ing discussed as a way to augment IR’s and airport security lines. In Europe, car-
7 Non-traction loads are defined as the energy
locomotive fleet with higher power and bon dioxide emissions per passenger-km consumed by the production units, various
technologically advanced locomotives. on Europe’s high-speed trains are equiv- workshops, and other infrastructure.

Greener rail for India 29

30 ABB review 2|10
 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 tunnels through the Alps – the
Lötschberg and the Gotthard – as well as DC traction substations for public
transport in the conurbations around the cities of Zurich, Bern and Luzern.

S
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.
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, Swiss Federal Railways struction of the New Railway Link through
Photo © AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or SBB) the Alps (NRLA), which integrates Swit-

Switzerland by rail 31
1 Comparison of European railways (2007) [1] 2 Alpine base tunnels (©AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd.). Train route from Basel, Switzerland to
Milano, Italy via the 57 km long Gotthard base tunnel

Country Total km Number

of rail of train
journeys per
2,500
resident
Switzerland 3,158 40

Meters above sea level

Luxembourg 275 33 2,000

Denmark 2,133 29 Gotthard base tunnel

Austria 5,702 24 1,500
Germany 33,890 22
The Netherlands 2,776 20 Göschenen Airolo
1,000
Belgium 3,374 19 Ceneri base tunnel
Czech Republic 9,460 17 Arth-Goldau
Zurich
500 Lugano
France 29,918 16 Zug Erstfeld
Basel Biasca Chiasso
Spain 13,368 11 Milano
Bellinzona
Italy 16,335 9 0 Proposed Zimmerberg base tunnel

zerland into the growing European high- transformers for connecting the two net- Switzerland’s second cross-Alpine link is
speed network. Thanks to the two NRLA works of the local energy suppliers. powering ahead. The base tunnel of the
axes – Gotthard and Lötschberg – the Gotthard is the heart of the NRLA and is
annual capacity of goods transported by The second part of the order involved the expected to make a marked improve-
rail will more than double from 20 million 16.7 Hz traction power supply system. ment in travel and freight options in cen-
metric tons in 2003 to around 50 million To connect Switzerland to the high-speed tral Europe. When it goes into operation
metric tons once the two routes have European network, the contact lines in in 2017, the Gotthard base tunnel will, at
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 locomotives 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 Valais 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
commissioning of the 16.7 Hz traction
tainers are then
placed in different
through Switzerland, more
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-

32 ABB review 2|10

3 AlpTransit Gotthard tunnel overview (© AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. Adapted by ABB) 4 REF542plus is providing fault protection
in the Gotthard tunnel.

Multifunction station Bodio

Faido
Emergency
Sedrun stop
Access Tunnel
Faido
57 km
Multifunction station
Sedrun
REF542plus

Erstfeld
Cable tunnel

Access tunnel Amsteg

Control center (50 Hz) 50 Hz MV system

System & maintenance LAN

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
the Gotthard base tunnel, because rail
and reliable supply, fast identification of
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
ferred immediately to the tunnel control
Exposure to the elements
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 ben-
– ie, dust or water. equipment that offers this unique feature. efit from the modern 12.7 km long tram
Installation of the rail equipment has al- line, which is being completed in stages
The intense fluctuations in pressure in ready begun and the 50 Hz supply is 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.

Switzerland by rail 33
 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

substations, which system includes eight rectifier substa-

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-
References
propriate protection for the contact line [1] SBB AG. SBB Annual Report 2008. Bern,
system. The RTU560D remote system Switzerland.
will connect the rectifier substations to [2] UIC (2007), cited by SBB AG. (2009).
Statistisches Vademecum: Die SBB in
the higher-level control system operated
Zahlen 2008, 27.
by the local utility. [3] Swiss Federal Office of Transport. (March 2009).
Freight traffic through the Swiss Alps 2008.
ABB is also carrying out other contracts, Bern, Switzerland.
[4] Friedli, M. (2007, May 23). Schweizer Verkehr-
including one for the municipal transport
spolitik: Konstanz und Innovation Referat (Swiss
authorities in Lucerne to renew rectifier transport policy: Consistency and innovation
substations for their trolleybus lines. lecture). Basel, Switzerland

34 ABB review 2|10

Knowing the
FACTS
ROLF GRÜNBAUM, PER HALVARSSON, BJÖRN THORVALDSSON – The
FACTS that enhance increase in traffic on existing tracks combined with new high-speed rail
power quality in rail projects mean rail traction is fast becoming an important load on electric
supply grids. This in turn is focusing a lot of attention on voltage stability
feeder systems as well as the power quality of the surrounding grids. Trains taking
power from the catenary need to be sure the supply voltages are stable
and do not sag. Voltage and current imbalances between phases of AC
supply systems must also be confined in magnitude and prevented from
spreading through the grid to other parts of the system. Voltage fluctua-
tions and harmonics need to be controlled if they are to stay within the
stipulated limits.

Knowing the FACTS 35

 1 Two transformer schemes are used to supply high and efficient power

1a Booster transformer scheme 1b Auto-transformer scheme

formers are then connected between dif- SVC and SVC Light devices can also be
ferent phases. used to dynamically support sagging
catenary voltages and mitigate harmon-
Nowadays, the traction load, Pload, tends ics emanating from thyristor locomotives.
to be relatively large, often with power In the case of SVC Light, a certain num-
ratings between 50 MW and 100 MW per ber of these harmonics can be removed
feeding transformer. These loads will cre- by active filtering.
ate imbalances in the supply system volt-
age if they are connected between two FACTS in rail traction
mains phases. As a rule of thumb, if the Power grids feeding railway systems and
fault level of the grid is represented by rail traction loads benefit enormously by
Sssc, the imbalance, Uimbalance, is equal to using SVC and STATCOM. These bene-
fits, listed in ➔ 3, reduce, if not eliminate,
Pload the investments needed to upgrade 1 the
Uimbalance =

T
here are several ways to feed Sssc railway power feeding infrastructure.
traction systems with electric
power. One scheme used in A common requirement is that the nega- FACTS devices in a system also enable
many traditional electrification tive phase sequence voltage resulting adequate power quality to be achieved
systems is to supply it directly using the from an unbalanced load should not ex- with in-feed at lower voltages than would
fundamental frequency main power, ie, ceed one percent. Assuming loads of otherwise be possible. This means, for
50/60 Hz. The transmission or sub-trans- between 50 MW and 100 MW, the feed- example, that it may be sufficient to feed
mission voltages are then directly trans- ing system must have a short-circuit lev- a railway system at 132 kV rather than at
formed by a power transformer to the el of at least 5,000 MVA to 10,000 MVA if 220 kV or even 400 kV.
traction voltage. it is to stay within the imbalance require-
ments. In many cases the traction sys- Load balancing by means of SVC
On the traction side any one of two tem is relatively far from strong high-volt- An SVC is a device that provides variable
transformer schemes can be used to age transmission lines. Weaker sub- impedance, which is achieved by com-
supply high and efficient power: the transmission lines, however, normally run bining elements with fixed impedances
booster transformer and auto-transform- somewhere in the vicinity of the rail and (eg, capacitors) with controllable reac-
er schemes ➔ 1. In the booster trans- can therefore be used to supply the rail tors. Surprisingly, this combination is ca-
former scheme, the main voltage is in cases where an imbalance caused by pable of balancing active power flows ➔ 4.
transformed into a single-phase catenary the traction load can be mitigated. The reactors also have fixed impedances
voltage. One end of the power trans- but the fundamental frequency compo-
former traction winding is grounded and Flexible AC transmission systems nent of the current flowing through them
the other is connected to the catenary Flexible AC transmission systems is controlled by thyristor valves, which
wire. In the auto-transformer scheme, (FACTS) is a family composed of static results in apparent variable impedance.
the traction winding is grounded at its devices that are controlled using state of In ➔ 4, this type of reactor is known as a
midpoint. One end of the winding is con- the art computerized control systems in thyristor controlled reactor (TCR).
nected to the catenary wire while the conjunction with high power electronics.
other end is linked to the feeder wire. In One such device, the conventional static A TCR is a shunt (parallel) branch con-
both schemes the grounded points are var compensator (SVC) as well as the sisting of a reactor in series with a thyris-
connected to the rail. more recently developed SVC Light® tor valve ➔ 5. The branch current is con-
(STATCOM) can be used for imbalance trolled by the phase angle of the firing
On the transmission network side the compensation, ie, they serve as load bal-
power transformer is connected between ancers when used with special control
Footnote
two phases. Frequently, two isolated rail algorithms. Load balancing is concerned
1 Reinforcing would involve building new
sections are fed from the same feeder with transferring active and reactive transmission or sub-transmission lines,
station, and in this case the power trans- power between different phases ➔ 2. substations and feeder points.

36 ABB review 2|10

2 FACTS for load balancing 4 Load balancing and reactive power compensation by SVC

Ec Catenary SVC

Eb

Feeder

Ea

3 Benefits of using SVC and STATCOM 5 The fundamental principle of a thyristor

controlled reactor (TCR)

– Non-symmetrical loads fed from two phases heavy traction capability to be maintained
of three-phase supplying grids are dynamically despite weak feeding. If an outage happens
I-
balanced. to occur at a feeding point, the locomotives
V
− Voltage fluctuations in the feeding grids will still receive adequate power. In fact the + -
caused by heavy fluctuations of the railway use of SVC and STATCOM may help reduce
loads can be dynamically mitigated. the number of feeding points required. V
− Harmonics injected into supply grids from − From a power quality point of view, the
traction devices can be eliminated. feeding grid can be chosen with a lower
− Regardless of load changes and fluctuations, voltage with FACTS, for example, 132 kV
power factor correction occurs at the point of instead of 220 kV or higher. I-
common coupling. This means the power − And finally, FACTS devices provide dynamic
factor is high and stable at all times. voltage control and harmonic mitigation of
− SVC and STATCOM provide dynamic voltage AC supply systems for DC converter fed trac-
tion (typically underground and suburban Firing pulses
support of catenaries feeding high power
locomotives. This in turn prevents harmful trains). Time
α
voltage drops along the catenary and allows

pulses (firing angle control) to the thyris- two other phases. Power factor correc-
tors, ie, the voltage across the reactor tion is obtained by a fixed capacitor bank The increase in
equals the full system voltage at a firing in parallel with a controlled reactor be-
angle of 90 degrees and is zero at a firing tween the remaining two phases. Har- traffic on existing
angle of 180 degrees. The current
through the reactor is the integral of the
monics are normally suppressed by the
addition of filters. These can be connect-
tracks combined
voltage; thus it is fully controllable be- ed either in a wye (Y) formation or direct- with new high-
tween the natural value given by the re- ly in parallel with the reactors.
actor impedance and zero. speed rail projects
The control of the load balancer may be
To address the issue of space as well as based either on the fact that three line-
mean rail traction
benefiting from advanced semiconductor to-line voltages with the same magnitude is fast becoming
technology, the thyristor valves make use cannot contain a negative phase se-
of a bi-directional device, a semiconduc- quence voltage or on a more sophisti- an important load
tor component which allows the integra- cated system that derives the different
tion of two anti-parallel thyristors in one phase sequence components and acts
on electrical supply
silicon wafer. Using these thyristors re-
duces the amount of units needed in the
to counteract the negative one. The con-
trol of the positive sequence voltage nor-
grids.
valves by 50 percent ➔ 6. The thyristor is mally has a lower priority compared with
a five-inch device with a current handling that of the negative, ie, it is only fully con-
capability of about 2,000 A (rms). trolled when the load balancer rating is
large enough to allow for both balancing
In the conventional SVC, load balancing and voltage control.
is achieved when, by controlling the re-
active elements, active power is trans- SVC and the HS 1 rail link
mitted between the phases. In its sim- A total of seven SVCs were supplied to
plest form the load balancer consists of a High-Speed 1 (HS 1), a 108 km high-
TCR connected between two power sup- speed rail line between London and the
ply phases and a fixed capacitor bank in channel tunnel at Dover which was for-
parallel with a TCR connected between merly known as the channel tunnel rail

Knowing the FACTS 37

6 A bi-directional control thyristor (BCT) 7 High-Speed 1 (HS 1) SVCs
valve

Barking Singlewell 400 kV

Sellindge

Channel
London tunnel

25 kV
(Neutral
section)
SVC SVC SVC SVC

Dynamic load balancer

Dynamic voltage support

8 HS 1 dynamic load balancer 9 Balancing an asymmetrical load

QR
R
C1 Load
QS
S
L
C2
QT
T

link (CTRL). With this link in operation, it in case of a feeder station trip. When this
FACTs devices is possible to travel between London and happens, two sections have to be fed
Paris in just over two hours at a maxi- from one station. It then becomes essen-
such as the con- mum speed of 300 km/h. tial to keep the voltage up in order to

ventional static var Even though it is primarily designed for

maintain traction efficiency.

compensator (SVC) high-speed trains, HS 1 also accommo- The second reason is to maintain unity
dates slower freight traffic. As modern power factor seen from the super grid
and SVC Light® trains have power ratings in the range of transformers during normal operation.
10 MW, the power feeding system must This ensures a low tariff for the active
(STATCOM) can be be designed to cope with large fluctuat- power consumed. And finally, the SVCs
used for imbalance ing loads. The HS 1 traction feeding sys- are installed to mitigate harmonic pollu-
tem is a modern direct supply of 25 kV tion. SVC filters are designed not only to
compensation, as with a mains frequency of 50 Hz, and accommodate the harmonics generated
each of the three traction feeding points by the SVC but also those created by the
well as for the between London and the channel tunnel traction load. There are stringent require-
dynamic support of is supported by SVCs ➔ 7. Direct trans-
formation from the power grid via trans-
ments on the allowed contribution from
the traction system to the harmonic level
sagging catenary formers connected between two phases at the connection points to the super-
is used, and the auto-transformer grid.
voltages. scheme is implemented to ensure a low
voltage drop along the traction lines. The SVCs operate in a closed-loop pow-
er factor control; an outage at a feeder
Dynamic voltage support station automatically changes operation
Six of the SVCs are used mainly for dy- to closed-loop voltage control.
namic voltage support and are connect-
ed on the traction side of the power Load balancing
transformers. A seventh SVC is needed The traction load, with a power rating of
for load balancing. At three of the feed- up to 120 MW, is connected between
ing points, one of two identical single- two phases. Without compensation, this
phase SVCs is connected between the load would give a negative phase se-
feeder and earth and the other is con- quence voltage of about 2 percent. To
nected between the catenary and earth. counteract this imbalance, the load bal-
ancer, an asymetrically controlled SVC,
There were three main reasons for in- was installed ➔ 8.
vesting in SVCs. The first and primary
reason is to support the railway voltage

38 ABB review 2|10

10 A High-Speed 1 (HS 1) load balancer main scheme 11 A single-line diagram of a typical SVC
used by the London underground

Sellindge s/s 400 kV

33 kV, -80/+170 Mvar
Load balancer

22 kV

} b
a
} 33 kV

3rd
84 Mvar
} 5th
7th

25
kV
25
kV
2x42 Mvar
}
TCR

TCR

Stand-by TCR 3rd 5th 7th

Catenary phase 60 Mvar 10 Mvar 15 Mvar 8 Mvar

Feeder

A load connected between two phases The load balancer schematic in ➔ 10 is that feed DC current to the trains, special
of a three-phase system can be made to optimized to handle a load connected measures had to be taken to limit or even
appear symmetrical and have unity pow- between the “a” and “c” phases. In ac- prevent disturbances, such as voltage
er factor – as seen from the three-phase cordance with load-balancing theory, to fluctuations and harmonics, from reach-
feeding system – by applying reactive el- balance a purely active load, a reactor ing the public grid.2
ements between the phases, as shown needs to be connected between the “a”
in ➔ 9. The per-phase reactive powers and “b” phases and a capacitor between In 2009, an SVC was commissioned for
can be related to a set of phase-to-phase the “b” and “c” phases. The traction load the 11 kV feeding grid to work together
reactive powers as follows: has a reactive part which also needs to with several other SVCs in operation
be balanced. Not
Q RS = QR + QS - QT only is the asym-
metry compensat- VSC and IGBT technologies
Q ST = QS + QT - QR ed for, but the ad-
dition of a capacitor have been brought together
Q TR = QT + QR - QS between the “c”
and “a” phases
to create a highly dynamic
If a single-phase load consumes an ac- also regulates the and robust system with a
tive power P and a reactive power Q, the power factor to
reactive values needed between the unity. high bandwidth known as
phases for total three-phase symmetry
as well as unity power factor are given The load balancer
SVC Light.
by: is controlled to
compensate for the negative phase se- since mid 2000. This brings to six, the
Q C1 = Q quence component present in the cur- number of SVCs (as well as some stand-
rent drawn from the supergrid. Further- alone harmonic filters) that now operate
QC2 = P/√3 more, the power factor is regulated to at critical points of the London under-
unity. The positive phase sequence volt- ground 22 kV and 11 kV grid. Space is-
QL = P/√3 age can also be controlled if the capacity sues and their proximity to underground
is available. This depends, however, on stations – and thus large groups of peo-
In the case of comprehensive traction the load balancer working point. ple – meant the SVC installations had to
loads, the aggregate values of P and Q
change substantially with time. By means Connecting the London underground
of SVC, the effective phase-to-phase In order to take power from the public Footnote
susceptances also become variable, grid, the London underground needed to 2 Extensive system studies were undertaken
to map sources of distortion and identify the
thereby satisfying the above equations in close its old gas/oil-fired power plant at
measures needed in order not to exceed the
all instances. Lots Road. Because the underground permitted disturbance limits at the points of
load consists mainly of diode converters common coupling.

Knowing the FACTS 39

12 Categorizing the SVCs used in the London underground 13 The TCR iron-core reactor arriving on site in London

Rated voltage, Dynamic range, TCR rating, Quantity of

kV Mvar Mvar SVCs
22 -27/+33 60 2
22 -37/+23 60 3
11 -16.5/+16.5 33 1

14 An SVC showing the thyristor valve (left) 15 SVC Light single-line diagram 16 The IGBT valve hall at one of the French
and valve cooling system (right) sites

63 kV

15 MVA

15 MVA

The converter valve is suspended from the cei-

0.7 Mvar
Ripple filter
ling, and the DC capacitors and bus are shown
in the foreground.

be compact and completed in such a quirements. The main parameters of the Balancing rail traction loads
way as to confine noise and magnetic six SVCs can be sub-divided into differ- With its ability to generate voltages of any
fields. In fact the magnetic field must not ent categories ➔ 12. amplitude and phase angle, SVC Light
exceed 1.6 mT at the boundary of any of has what it takes to fulfil the role of a load
the SVCs. 3 For these reasons, the SVCs An iron core reactor arriving on site in balancer. By connecting the VSC to the
use iron-core TCR reactors instead of London is shown in ➔ 13 and an on-site grid, SVC Light can be treated as a syn-
the more common air-core reactors. picture of an SVC is shown in ➔ 14. chronous machine in which the ampli-
tude, phase and frequency of the voltage
Typically, each SVC consists of one TCR SVC Light can be independently controlled. In addi-
and a set of harmonic filters that are indi- With the advent of controllable semicon- tion, with high frequency PWM switching,
vidually tuned and rated ➔ 11. By means ductor devices capable of high power the VSC is also capable of synthesizing a
handling, voltage negative sequence voltage.
source converters
With its ability to generate (VSCs) with ratings Compared to the classical SVC based on
beyond 100 MVA delta-connected TCRs for the same rat-
voltages of any amplitude and are now feasible. ed power, an SVC Light with phase-wise
Now VSC 4 and in-
phase angle, SVC Light has sulated gate bipo-
connected valves and a common DC link
can compensate a train load that is √3
what it takes to fulfil the role lar transistor (IGBT) times larger. The delta-type connection
technologies have is less efficent for balancing unsymmetri-
of a load balancer. been brought to- cal active power than it is for symmetri-
gether to create a cal reactive power compensation. This
of phase angle control of the TCR, a highly dynamic and robust system with a difference does not exist if a phase-wise
continuous variable output, from maxi- high bandwidth known as SVC Light, for connection is used.
mum Mvar capacitive to maximum Mvar a variety of power conditioning tasks in
inductive reactive power, can be ob- grids and beyond. Using pulse width Two SVC Light installations are in opera-
tained from steady state. Harmonic filter modulation (PWM), an AC voltage almost tion in the French railway system. Both
arrangements vary from site to site, de- sinusoidal in shape can be produced are fed from the national power grid, one
pending on the fault level of the feeding without the need for harmonic filtering. at 90 kV and the other at 63 kV sub-
grid at each site and the harmonic re- transmission levels. At both sites, SVC

40 ABB review 2|10

17 Measurement of voltage imbalance (values taken every 10 minutes)

2.5

2.0
Voltage imbalance (%)

STATCOM
disconnected
1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
00.00 04.00 08.00 12.00 16.00 20.00 22.40
Time (hours)

Light is used to dynamically balance the used on the 63 kV side. This gives a ro-
asymmetry between phases caused by bust solution which can be applied to
the mode of traction feeding. In these varying network configurations.
cases, the thyristor locomotives are fed
power from two phases of a three-phase The second SVC Light installation is rat-
grid. The locomotives generate harmon- ed at 90 kV, 16 MVA to accommodate a
ics which are then actively filtered by single-phase active load size of up to
SVC Light. 5 17 MW ➔ 16. Its task is to confine the grid
unbalance at 90 kV to no more than 1
In ➔ 15, the load balancer is rated at percent for Sssc≥600 MVA under normal
63 kV, 15 MVA and can accommodate a network conditions and no greater than
1.5 percent for 300 MVA≤S ssc≤600 MVA
for abnormal (N-1) network conditions.
To meet the Measurements taken since SVC Light
was installed show a distinct improve-
requirements of ment in voltage imbalance [1]. To be more

imbalance if SVC specific, the voltage imbalance does not

exceed 1 percent ➔ 17.
Light were not Rolf Grünbaum
SVC Light cost benefits Per Halvarsson
available, the sup- SVC Light offers not only a technically but Björn Thorvaldsson
also an economically advantageous solu-
ply network in-feed tion [2]. To illustrate this point, suppose
ABB Power Systems, Grid Systems/FACTS
Västerås, Sweden

would have to be SVC Light is not available. Therefore, to [email protected]

meet the requirements of imbalance, the [email protected]
increased, which in supply network in-feed would have to be [email protected]
transferred from 63 kV to 225 kV or
turn would require 400 kV. This in turn would require the
the erection of new erection of new overhead lines as well as
the upgrading of a number of substations
Footnotes
3 Measurements have confirmed that this

overhead lines and currently supplied with 63 kV or 90 kV.

requirement has been fulfilled.
4 In the SVC Light, the VSC uses switching
frequencies in the kHz range.
the upgrading of 5 Active filtering is possible because of the high
bandwidth inherent in the SVC Light concept.
many substations. Active filtering occurs as long as there is the
capacity to do so, for example, when the load is
lower than the compensator rating.
single-phase active load of up to 16 MW.
Its task is to confine grid unbalance at
References
63 kV to no more than 1 percent under
[1] Courtois, C., Perret, J.P., Javerzac, J.L.,
normal network conditions and no great- Paszkier, B., Zouiti, M. (2006). VSC based
er than 1.8 percent for abnormal (N-1) imbalance compensator for railway substations.
network conditions. One double-tuned Cigré B4-103, 2006.
[2] Grünbaum, R., Hasler, J-P., Larsson, T., Meslay,
filter, tuned to the 40th and 51.5th har-
M. (2009). STATCOM to enhance power quality
monics, has been installed on the AC and security of rail traction supply.
side. No passive harmonic filters are ELECTROMOTION 2009, Lille, France.

Knowing the FACTS 41

Static converters,
dynamic
performance
GERHARD LINHOFER, PHILIPPE MAIBACH, NIKLAUS UMBRICHT – There are
Providing railway grids significant differences between railway electrification and national grids.
with the right frequency One of these is that AC-electrified railways generally use only a single
phase, whereas domestic grids generate, transmit and distribute
three-phase power. Furthermore, frequencies are in many cases different
from those of the national grid. Even when the same frequency is used,
this is not necessarily synchronized. Nowadays, large frequency
converters based entirely on power electronics are used to transfer
electricity between national and railway grids. ABB has installed
numerous 15 MW frequency converters, for example the railway power
supply to the new Swiss Lötschberg tunnel. Today, even larger power
classes are implemented, in particular the 413 MW station being built for
E.ON in Germany – the most powerful static converter so far.

42 ABB review 2|10

 1 Single line diagram of a converter station

15 MW Standard converter ABB

Typical single line diagram

20 kV, 50 Hz Container
Network side 16.7 Hz
50 Hz 2 x 3-ph 4 x single phase transformer
transformer 3-level bridges 3-level bridges
3 3 1 110 kV, 16.7 Hz
Rail side

Grounding UZK- High- 33 Hz

measuring Limiter pass filter
filter

Cooling unit with fin fan 16.7 Hz filter

Other alternatives:
110 kV, 50 HzGrid connection
15 kV, 16.7 Hz Rail direct connection

mon mechanical shaft. In a more recent

development, frequency converters The compact
based on power electronics became
design led to the

E
lectric railways have a huge suitable for this purpose. In fact, the total
demand for power. In fact many
operate their own high-voltage
power of such static frequency convert-
ers taken into operation over the past 15
development of
power grids and some even years is about 1,000 MW. Approximately standardized
operate dedicated generating plants. two-thirds of these were supplied by
Few railways, however, are totally auton- ABB. Converters totaling more than converter mod-
omous: Power must be exchanged with 800 MW are presently being built or have
the national grids. Today, three main been ordered.
ules and permit-
power systems are used for electric ted converters of
mainline railways. From the point of view of the converter
– In countries or regions where railway (be it rotary or static), the interconnection various power
lines were electrified relatively recent- of a three-phase and a single-phase grid
ly, the catenaries are often fed from is more demanding than the intercon-
classes to be
the public grid at a frequency of 50 Hz
(or 60 Hz), mostly at a line voltage of
nection of two three-phase grids. One
principle reason for this is the fact that
built.
25 kV. the power in the single-phase grid oscil-
– In some countries, where railways lates at twice the grid frequency, whereas
were electrified much earlier, direct in the three-phase grid it is basically con-
current (DC) was chosen (typical line stant. In the case of rotary converters,
voltages are 1.5 and 3 kV). the ensuing torque and power fluctua-
– Other countries use single-phase tions are absorbed and damped by the
alternating current with a low supply rotating masses. The resulting vibrations
frequency. These include the East must however be absorbed by their me-
Coast of the United States, using chanical anchoring and foundations. This
25 Hz, and Norway, Sweden, Ger- leads to additional complexity in the de-
many, Austria and Switzerland, using sign of both the machine and its founda-
16.7 (formerly 16 2/3) Hz. tions.

In the past, rotary converters were used In the case of static frequency convert-
to exchange power between single- ers, the oscillation is filtered using a ca-
phase railway grids and three-phase na- pacitor bank and an inductance that are
tional grids. They basically consisted of tuned to twice the operating frequency
two electrical machines with a different of the railway grid.
number of pole pairs arranged on a com-

Static converters, dynamic performance 43

2 Converter container

Components of the converter container

– Space cooling system
– Converter and voltage limiter modules with
control electronics close to the converter
– DC-link bus bars and capacitors behind
the converter modules
– Bus bar feeders to the transformers
– Power distribution for auxiliary power and
instrumentation and control system
(control, measurement and protection)
– Uninterruptible power supply for the
instrumentation and control system
– Local operation using HMI and event
printer

Another challenge lies in the fact that the to the development of standardized con- 50 Hz converter
static converter not only has to act as a verter modules and permitted converters This converter consists of two standard
voltage and reactive power source, but of various power classes to be built. To- three-phase, three-level units. Two phas-
must also be able to handle – without in- day, more than twenty converters in the es are combined in one stack to form a
terruption – the transition from intercon- 15 to 20 MW range are in operation and double-phase module. The converter is
nected system operation to island opera- performing to the customers’ fullest sat- realized in a real 12-pulse configuration.
tion in case of disturbances in the grid. isfaction. Hence, only 12-pulse characteristic har-
Furthermore, it must be capable of act- monics (n = 12k ± 1; k = 1, 2, 3, 4 . . .) are
ing as the sole power supply to an iso- 15–20 MW: converter station for the generated.
lated section of railway, and be able to Lötschberg rail tunnel
subsequently resynchronize with the rest One of these deliveries was the Wimmis 16.7 Hz converter
of the railway grid after the disturbance converter station for the new Lötschberg This converter consists of four standard
has been cleared. rail tunnel (Switzerland) 1, through which two-phase, three-level units. Two phases
trains are able to operate at 200 km/h. In are combined in one stack assembly to
Long tradition of static converters 2005, ABB supplied four converter units form a double-phase module. The
ABB can draw on a long history of static for this railway. The customer was the 16.7 Hz converter is implemented in an
converter technology. The first railway Bernese Power Utility (BKW), which was eight-step configuration. The converter
at the time respon- output voltage levels are summed by
sible for providing means of series connection of the line-
The static converter not only electrical power to side transformer windings of the four
the railway. Each offset-pulsed three-level H-bridges.
has to act as a voltage and of the four con-

reactive power source, but verter blocks, with

a power of 20 MW,
Voltage limiter
Should the DC link voltage exceed an
must also be able to handle first converts the upper threshold, it is discharged via a re-
three-phase sup- sistor until a lower threshold is reached.
the transition from intercon- ply from the 50 Hz The voltage limiter control works inde-
network into DC pendently of the control system for the
nected system operation to (direct current). converter on the two-phase AC (railway-
island operation in case of a The energy is brief- side) and the three-phase AC (mains-
ly stored in a DC side). This ensures that the DC link volt-
disturbance. link before being age remains within the defined range at
changed by an in- all times.
power supply converters with powerful verter into a single-phase, alternating
turn-off semiconductors in the form of voltage with a frequency of 16.7 Hz. DC link
GTOs (gate turn-off thyristors) were tak- All double-phase modules of the con-
en into operation in Switzerland in 1994. The single line diagram of a complete verter are connected to each other on
Since then a new semiconductor ele- converter station such as the one in- the DC side by a common bus bar. This
ment, the integrated gate-commutated stalled for the Lötschberg tunnel in Swit- carries the individual converter module
thyristor (IGCT), was developed that fea- zerland is shown in ➔ 1. It features the connections for the directly coupled DC
tures a much more advanced switching following components:
capability, lower losses, and a low-in-
Footnote
ductance gate unit as an integrated 1 See also “Switzerland by rail” on page 31 of this
“component.” The compact design led edition of ABB Review.

44 ABB review 2|10

 Supplied in a
weatherproof
container, the
converter and
the associated
control system
are fully wired
and tested.

link capacitors, the DC link filter banks 16.7 Hz transformer Line filter
and voltage measurements. The transformer of the 16.7 Hz converter On the 16.7 Hz side, a filter is used to
is used to add up the four partial voltag- reduce the very low harmonic distortion
The DC link forms the connection be- es to a nearly sinusoidal single-phase caused by the converter to even lower
tween the 50 Hz and 16.7 Hz converters. voltage with a rated frequency of 16.7 Hz. values. On the 50 Hz side, this is also re-
It consists of the following main compo- The transformer consists of four single- quired in some cases.
nents: phase units. The rectangular partial volt-
– Directly coupled capacitor bank as ages are generated from a DC voltage Remote control
energy storage In the case of the static converters at the
– 33.4 Hz filter to absorb the power Swiss Lötschberg project, the whole
fluctuation from the railway grid The world’s larg- system is remotely controlled by an ABB
– High-pass filter to absorb the higher system-control computer, known as
frequency harmonics from the railway est rail converter ALR 2, which captures and analyzes the
grid, in particular the distinct third and
fifth harmonics of the railway grid
station is now data from the four 20 MW converters and
the two rotary converters via standard-
under construc- ized interfaces. The ALR continually cal-
Converter container culates the optimum use of the available
Supplied in a weatherproof container, the tion in Datteln, production units (static and rotary con-
converter and the associated control verters) on the basis of the power de-
system are fully wired and tested. The
North Rhine West- mand in the railway network or based on
cooling system is located in a separate falia, Germany. manual settings. Thus, the necessary
container. Both containers are mounted power reserve can be connected to or
onto a common support base. A cross- disconnected from the network by the
sectional view of the converter container source (DC link) with the help of four sin- control computer within a matter of sec-
is shown in ➔ 2. gle-phase IGCT converter bridges using onds.
the pulse-width modulation method and
50 Hz transformer are fed to the four valve-side windings All control, regulation and safety func-
The transformer of the 50 Hz converter of the transformer. The adding up and tions are equipped with the proven, fully
feeds the two IGCT-based three-phase adaptation to the railway grid voltage digital power-electronic control system 3
bridges. A three-phase transformer con- occurs in the high-voltage winding. A fil-
sists either of a three-limb core in dou- ter is connected to the series-connected Footnotes
ble-tier design with intermediate yoke or tertiary windings or to the railway grid. 2 ALR is an abbreviation for Anlageleitrechner
(system control computer).
of two three-limb cores contained in one
3 On earlier installations: PSR (Programmierbarer
tank. Schneller Rechner), on current installations:
AC 800 PEC.

Static converters, dynamic performance 45

3 The Wimmis converter station for the new The two × 30 MW converter station in Timelkam, Austria
Lötschberg rail tunnel

from ABB. This system is designed for tions. Two or more 30 MW units can be
The ALR continu- use in precise and very fast servo loops combined in parallel to achieve higher
for converter/inverter systems. The op- power ratings per station.
ally calculates the erator workstations of the ABB Mi-

optimum use of croSCADA power control system in the

central control room guarantee the reli-
30 MW: converter station Timelkam
At the end of 2007, the Austrian Railway
the available pro- able display of the measured values and System ÖBB ordered a new rail convert-
calculations as well as the operation of er station for installation near the town of
duction units the supervisory circuits and sequences Timelkam in the province of Upper Aus-
of all parts of the system. Hot standby tria. The station comprises two indepen-
(static and rotary operation of the supervisory power con- dent 30 MW converter stations, which
converters) on trol system components (ALR and oper- are fed from the national grid at 50 Hz
ator workstations) guarantees very high / 110 kV and convert this to 16.7 Hz
the basis of the availability of the system. / 110 kV. A total of 60 MW of electric
power is thus available for the railway
power demand The installation is shown in ➔ 3. The grid with no transportation losses thanks
in the railway 50 Hz transformer can be seen on the
left-hand side, including the 50 Hz filter
to its proximity to the power generation
facility. The first 30 MW converter went
network or of circuit above the transformer (mounted into commercial operation in July
on a portal). The single phase 16.7 Hz 2009 ➔ 4.
manual settings. transformer is on the right-hand side and
the converter container is in the middle 413 MW: Datteln converter station
between the transformers. The world’s largest rail converter station
is now under construction in Datteln,
Increase of unit power to 30 MW North Rhine Westfalia, Germany. The
Due to the modular design, other power station was ordered by the German pow-
classes can be implemented very easily er supplier E.ON in 2007 and will provide
(in steps of 15 MW). The additional con- a power rating of 413 MW. It will replace
verter modules are connected in parallel. existing 16.7 Hz generators of the power
This converter generation sets new stan- plants Datteln 1–3, which have reached
dards in terms of performance, footprint the end of their economic and technical
and short erection and commissioning lifespans. The converter station will re-
times. Positive feedback shows that ceive power at 50 Hz from the new near-
ABB’s standardized railway converter is by Datteln 4 power station and feed
well suited to meet customer needs. power at 16.7 Hz into the 110 kV network
of the German Railways (DB). The Dat-
Following the successful introduction of teln node is one of the most important
the 15–20 MW converters, customers “supply points” of DB’s grid. A very high
sought a further increase of unit power. availability is therefore required of the
ABB thus developed another standard converter station. ABB is responsible for
frequency converter for 30 MW with op- the entire engineering of this project, ie,
tional overload capability, depending on the design of the converter system,
application and environmental condi- specification of all the components and

46 ABB review 2|10

4 30 MW converter station 5 One of the four converter units (103 MW)

16.7 Hz transformer Cooling unit

380 kV/50 Hz
Control transformer
30 MW Converter unit
container 50 Hz transformer

Control/cooling Heat exchangers

container
33 Hz filter reactors
33 Hz inductor 2 x 55 kV/16.7 Hz
Heat exchargers transformer
4 x 30 MW converter containers

development of control and protection flexible response to various power re-

software. Since it is a turnkey project, in- quirements. In coming years there will be
stallation and commissioning is also part an increased demand for 15 MW con-
of the project scope. verter units as many rotary converters
reach the end of their lifespan. ABB is
The scope of supply for ABB includes committed to following up on its recent
four independent converter stations each successes by further advancing this
with a rated power of 103 MW, obtained technology.
from four standard 30 MW converters.
The built-in overload capability allows
the customer to still receive the nominal
power of 413 MW even if one of the four
converter stations is not in service. Each Gerhard Linhofer
converter unit has the following main Philippe Maibach
components: Niklaus Umbricht
– One converter transformer on the ABB Automation Products
50 Hz side Turgi, Switzerland
– Four converter containers including [email protected]
intermediate circuit filters [email protected]
– One control container [email protected]
– One cooling container (housing the
cooling system)
– Four water/air heat exchangers References
– Two series connected converter [1] Gaupp, O., Linhofer, G., Lochner, G., Zanini, P.
Powerful static frequency converters for
transformers on the 16.7 Hz railway transalpine rail routes. ABB Review 5/1995,
side 4–10.
[2] Lönard, D., Northe, J., Wensky, D. Statische
Apart from the technical challenge pre- Bahnstromrichter – Systemübersicht aus-
geführter Anlagen. Elektrische Bahnen 6/1995,
sented by this major project, logistics 179–190.
and good planning are essential to en- [3] Mathis, P. Statischer Umrichter Giubiasco der
able the equipment to be delivered on Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen. Elektrische
time. The long contract duration (com- Bahnen 6/1995, 194–200.
[4] Steimer, P., Grüning, H., Werninger, J., Dähler,
pletion is scheduled for 2011) accompa- P., Linhofer, G., Boeck, R. Series connection of
nied by a rigid timetable is a distinctive GTO thyristors for high-power static frequency
feature. This project may also pioneer converters. ABB Review 5/1996, 14–20.
further applications: Four converter [5] Steimer, P., Grüning, H.P., Werninger, J.,
Carroll, E., Klaka, S., Linder, S. IGCT – a new,
blocks with 103 MW each set a new
emerging technology for high-power, low-cost
standard in terms of power for static fre- inverters. ABB Review 5/1998, 34–42.
quency converters ➔ 5. [6] Meyer, M., Thoma, M. Netzkompatibilitätsstudie
und -messungen für die Umrichteranlage Wim-
mis. Elektrische Bahnen 12/2006, 567–574.
Outlook
[7] Jampen, U., Thoma, M. Statische Frequen-
ABB is market leader for this type of sys- zumrichteranlage Wimmis. Elektrische Bahnen
tem. The modular approach allows a 12/2006, 576–583.

Static converters, dynamic performance 47

Building on
success
FSK II outdoor vacuum circuit breakers make
the connection for UK rail projects

KAREN STRONG, BRYCE DENBOER – Outdoor circuit breakers reputation for their reliability, performance and long life,
form a vital part of the power infrastructure that supplies especially in projects in the United Kingdom. So when
electricity to mainline trains via the overhead catenaries. ABB launched the new FSK II with a range of innovative
They are used for isolating the supply to the catenaries, features, such as a maintenance-free combination of
as well as for sectionalizing parts of the track during magnetic actuator and electronic controller, it was natural
inspection and maintenance. ABB’s FSK I outdoor vacuum that it would quickly attract the interest of contractors
circuit breakers have established a significant global working on Network Rail projects.

48 ABB review 2|10

 1 Part of Birmingham’s cross-city eletrification project included the replacement of
old circuit breakers with new ones from ABB

1a ABB’s FSK II vacuum circuit breakers 1b New electronic controller at ground level

FSK II and its associated cables or bus- ect was carried out in the North West
bars. This ensures a particularly neat and Leeds area and the second focused on
compact solution that minimizes the re- the first two phases of Birmingham’s
quired installation footprint and reduces cross-city electrification.
environmental impact. The FSK II also
utilizes environmentally friendly nitrogen Carillion decided to use ABB’s FSK II cir-
and vacuum insulating technology. cuit breakers because, as Darryl Hack-

A
BB has developed the FSK II ett, Carillion Project Manager for Power
outdoor vacuum circuit One of the first UK contractors to adopt Systems explains, “After considering a
breaker specifically for single the FSK II was Carillion plc, a leading number of options it was apparent that
(1 × 25 kV) and two-phase support services and construction com- ABB’s new FSK II would offer the ideal
(2 × 25 kV) 50 Hz traction power supply solution for us. This was based on its
switching applications (see picture on simplicity, elegance and compact design,
page 48). The design builds on the suc- ABB’s FSK II’s in- especially with respect to electrical clear-
cess of the earlier FSK I currently in wide- ances, so it required a smaller installation
spread use around the world. The FSK II, novative magnetic footprint. It was also easy to install (and)
however, features an important new de-
velopment that replaces the mechanical
actuator and cable requires very low maintenance.”

linkage, traditionally used on this type of connection ap- The Carillion project moved swiftly from
switchgear to couple the control box (at the time the first purchase order was
ground level) with the elevated vacuum proach eliminates made in July 2007 to the factory accep-
interrupter, by an electronic controller tance test (FAT) in Geneva in November
linked by cable to a magnetic actuator at
several moving 2007. The first batch of 50 circuit break-
the base of the interrupter. parts, creating an ers was delivered in February 200, and to
date well over 100 FSK II circuit-breakers
The main advantage of the FSK II’s mag- installation that is have been delivered to Carillion.
netic actuator and cable connection ap-
proach is that it eliminates several mov-
robust, reliable Engineering support
ing parts, creating an installation that is
essentially maintenance-free, robust and
and essentially The key to the success of the Carillion
projects was not just confined to the
reliable. This in turn significantly reduces maintenance-free. technical advantages of the FSK II de-
service time and costs. In addition, the sign; ABB’s high level of engineering
simple flexible design makes the FSK II pany that had two major rail infrastruc- support was also a crucial factor, in par-
easy to adapt and integrate into new or ture projects underway for Network Rail, ticular the attention given to ensure the
existing installations. It is also fast and the owner and operator of the United circuit breakers were correctly installed.
simple to install and commission as there Kingdom’s rail infrastructure. Carillion was operating within tightly de-
is no need for mechanical adjustment on fined periods of “possession,” ie, when
site. The projects were concerned with the re- the sites could be taken out of service.
placement of life-expired circuit-breakers By ensuring that the circuit-breakers
ABB has paid particular attention to the on structure mounted outdoor switch- were delivered in a ready-to-fit condition,
design of the connections between the gear (SMOS) installations. The first proj- ABB helped Carillion reduce the duration

Building on success 49
 sign to meet the individual preferences of
2 ABB used a modified cable extension 3 Network Rail Certificate of Acceptance
between the control box and interrupter both Carillion and Network Rail, such as
in the positioning and labelling of switch-
Recently, ABB received Network Rail’s formal
es. It was also particularly refreshing to
Certificate of Acceptance for use of the FSK II be kept fully informed of progress, even
27.5 kV outdoor vacuum breaker in electrical to the finest detail such as when a ship-
traction power systems. This formal ment was leaving the factory, to when it
certification follows the successful installation
of a large number of FSK II circuit breakers
was arriving in the UK and when it could
under trial conditions for several major UK be expected to reach our warehouse –
projects, including the Carillion projects as all without us ever needing to chase or
well as the West Coast Main Line (WCML) follow up.”
power upgrade.

The FSK II is available either as loose

equipment or complete with mounting
brackets. It has achieved over 5,000 op-
erations under test conditions, which is
equivalent to a service life of well over 20
years in most normal railway applica-
tions.

of the required outage by a third! So for breakers was required and as much
example, larger feeder sites with six or of the original cabling as possible
seven breaker replacements were com- should be retained.
pleted in just four weeks. This fast-track
approach was well received by Network In answer to the mounting requirement,
Rail as it helped minimize the potential ABB, in close cooperation with Carillion’s
disruption to rail services. experienced site installation team, de-
vised a special adaptor interface that
Customized solutions used the same terminations and bolt
The Leeds project was relatively straight- spacings ➔ 1. Effectively, it became a like
forward as the new FSK II circuit break- for like replacement but one which incor-
ers were replacing older ABB circuit- porated the latest technology. To retain
breakers of a similar design. The as much of the original cabling as possi-
ble, ABB provided
a control cable ex-
The connections between tension for the FSK
II and reused the
the FSK II and its associated existing field ca-

cables or busbars ensures bles ➔ 2.

a compact solution that The final verdict

Darryl Hackett
minimizes the required instal- would have no
hesitation in rec-
lation footprint and reduces ommending ABB’s
environmental impact. FSK II circuit
breakers for similar
projects ➔ 3. Com-
Birmingham project, however, was more plementing the company’s professional
challenging for several reasons: approach, he said there had been a Karen Strong
seamless interface between Carillion and ABB Limited – Medium Voltage Products
– The new circuit breakers were ABB’s own operations in the UK and Stone, United Kingdom
replacing a significantly different Switzerland. This, he added, provided a [email protected]
design from another manufacturer. smooth transition from the initial FAT to
– They had to be mounted onto the final delivery. Bryce Denboer
existing steel skeleton superstructure. ABB Limited – Rail Products
– Network Rail was keen that only the “What was particularly impressive was Daresbury, United Kingdom
physical replacement of the circuit- ABB’s flexibility in adapting the FSK II de- [email protected]

50 ABB review 2|10

Transforming ideas
into movement
RAFAEL BUENACASA, JOSÉ ANTONIO CANO, CARLOS GARCÍA
ABB vacuum cast coil dry QUIRÓS, BERTA OBIS – Istanbul is the only city in the world
transformers are doing that belongs to two continents. It is perhaps the most
important financial and cultural center in Turkey and cer-
excellent (under)ground work tainly one of the most important in the world. As a thriving
city with a population of over 13 million people, it may be
in Istanbul surprising to learn that its transport network, by comparison
with other major cities, is still in its infancy. While that may
be the case, no effort is being spared in developing a rail
network that will elevate Istanbul to the transport levels of
other prominent cities.

Transforming ideas into movement 51

 1 ABB’s hi-T Plus cast coil dry transformer

applications – for the Kartal-Kadikoy One such factory is located in Zaragoza,

line. Spain, which manufactures customized
transformers.
Why ABB transformers?
ABB vacuum cast coil dry transformers The portfolio of vacuum cast coil trans-
are moisture-proof, making them suit- formers for railway projects is broad.

L
ike many other cities of its able for operation in humid or heavily However, there are basically two main
size, Istanbul has been beset polluted environments. They can operate applications where they are mostly used:
by serious traffic congestion in environments with humidity levels substation distribution and traction. Pro-
problems for many years. To higher than 95 percent as well as at tem- viding energy for the second requires a
alleviate some of this congestion, con- peratures down to – 25 °C. In addition different, more restrictive solution, name-
struction of the first underground rail- demanding installation requirements, ly in the form of hi-T Plus transform-
way in Istanbul only started as recently such as reduced noise, vibration levels ers ➔ 1.
as 1992, and the first line began opera- and limited space made them the ideal
tion in the second half of 2000. While choice. Vacuum cast coil dry transform- When heat is not a problem
this has gone a long way in helping to ers are designed to withstand seismic ABB’s hi-T Plus transformers differ from
reduce the number of cars on the conditions, and given Istanbul’s geo- other vacuum cast coil transformers in
streets, much still needs to be done. graphical position, ie, close to an active that they can operate at much higher
fault in North Ana-
Since it began in 1992, construction tolia, which has
work has been ongoing. For example, been responsible ABB vacuum cast coil dry
the Kirazli-Olimpiyat metro line is the for several earth-
third line built in Istanbul on the Euro- quakes, the anti- transformers are moisture-
pean side, while the Kartal-Kadikoy line vibration accesso-
was the first set up on the Asian side. ries played an
proof, making them suitable
ABB has been active in both projects as important part in for operation in humid or
the supplier of choice of vacuum cast the final decision to
coil transformers. In fact, the company commission ABB's heavily polluted environments.
has supplied a total of 133 of these transformers.
types of transformer: 47 vacuum cast temperatures – thus the hi-T in the name.
coil transformers with a power rating Over 100,000 units are currently in op- This is possible by the use of upgraded
ranging from 2,000 kVA to 3,300 kVA for eration around the world, including the thermal insulation, which in this case is a
the Kirazli-Olimpiyat metro line; and 86 more than 1,600 dry type transformers class H material. Traditional vacuum cast
dry transformers – 60 vacuum cast coil (with power ratings up to 16,000 kVA) coil transformers use a class F insulating
transformers with a power rating rang- present in railway networks. This makes material. Materials belonging to insula-
ing from 250 kVA to 5,000 kVA, class ABB the most experienced supplier of tion class H are known for their enhanced
36 kV for distribution application, and this type of transformer by far. mechanical and dielectric properties and
26 hi-T Plus vacuum cast coil 12 pulse high heat resistance. This means the hi-T
rectifier transformers with a power rat- Vacuum cast coil dry transformers are Plus transformer can easily withstand an
ing of 3,300 kVA, class 36 kV for traction produced in dedicated focus factories. average temperature rise of 125 K with-

52 ABB review 2|10

2 Expected insulation lifetime taking Class F at 100K as 100 percent 3 The overloading capabilities of the hi-T Plus transformer

1,200 Class F at 100 K 1.20 Class F transformer

1,000
% insulation life

Class F at 80 K 1.15 hi-T Plus transformer

Loading factor
800 hi-T Plus 1.10
600 1.05
400 1.00
200 0.95
0 0.90

4 hi-T Plus transformer capabilities without loss of life A fixed railway substation. See page 72 for a detailed description

400
350
300
Time (min)

250
200
150
100
50
0
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1.3 1.35 1.4 1.45 1.5
Loading factor p.u.
Class F previous loading 0.7
Class F previous loading 0.9
hi-T Plus previous loading 0.7
hi-T Plus previous loading 0.9

out affecting its insulation lifetime ➔ 2. In its superb overloading capabilities, ie,
fact this class H device has the added continuous overloading, even at full rated
benefit of an increased insulation lifetime, power, will not decrease the lifetime of
and is by far the best choice for networks the device ➔ 3 and ➔ 4. The transformers
with high harmonic distortion, load are designed to work under overloading
peaks, sudden overloads and high un- conditions at a temperature never ex-
ceeding their insulation class, thereby
ensuring that degradation never occurs
Compared to during these cycles.

other vacuum cast These technical advantages, combined

coil transformers, with the fact that it works within class B

temperature rise limits, ie, a maximum
ABB’s hi-T Plus average winding temperature rise of 80 K
is allowed, enable a reduction in the
transformers can transformer footprint of a hi-T Plus de-
vice with the same power rating as its
operate at much F-class counterpart. This in turn enables
higher tempera- engineering companies and end-users to
reduce their operating costs.
tures because the
Transformer rated power for railway ap-
thermal insulation plications is identified with one of the Rafael Buenacasa

uses a class H cycles included within the EN50329 or

IEC60146 standards. Moreover, harmon-
Berta Obis
Carlos García Quirós
material. ics are taken into consideration, and if no José Antonio Cano
information is available, standard values ABB Power Products
foreseen ambient temperatures. Howev- are taken as reference. This removes any Zaragoza, Spain.
er, by design the rated temperature rise uncertainties that, in the past, were usu- [email protected]
is limited to 100 K for a maximum ambi- ally solved by oversizing the transformer [email protected]
ent temperature of 40 ºC. In addition, the or limiting its temperature rise. [email protected]
hi-T Plus transformer is characterized by [email protected]

Transforming ideas into movement 53

54 ABB review 2|10
Transforming
suburban
transport
ABB traction transformers helping
to move millions of commuters

CÉCILE FÉLON, HARRY ZÜGER – A train speeds out of a calm suburb and into the
bustling city, opens its doors and releases hundreds of passengers onto the
platform. Soon the doors close and power once again flows to the train through
overhead lines allowing it to accelerate rapidly to 60 km/h in a few seconds. Within
a few kilometers the train decelerates and glides into yet another station to unload
still more commuters. These events are repeated hour after hour, day after day,
year after year. In cities around the world commuters rely on the high-performance
of ABB traction transformers to reliably power their travel, quietly, and efficiently,
while they prepare for another day at work.

U
nlike regional rail systems, operators. ABB has an unrivaled track
which operate between towns record, having manufactured several
and cities, commuter rail ser- thousand traction transformers that are
vices usually connect city cen- in operation around the world today. Now
ters to outlying suburbs within a range of more than ever, ABB can provide a level
around 60 km. These suburban railway of technical experience that facilitates
networks carry large numbers of passen- the delivery of traction transformer tech-
gers under demanding conditions. nology regardless of the constraints
faced by commuter train suppliers.
Commuter trains are expected to stop
frequently, and decelerate and acceler- ABB’s traction transformer improves
ate rapidly, placing severe strain on com- urban quality of life
ponents. Despite these harsh operating 2008 represented a landmark year in
conditions, the train is expected to per- global urbanization with more than half of
form reliably and provide a dependable the world’s population living within urban
service, no matter the environmental areas for the first time. Forecasters pre-
conditions. dict that 60 percent of the global popula-
tion will live in urban neighborhoods by
ABB is a leading supplier of compact, 2030, and that the trend is set to contin-
lightweight, reliable traction transformers ue. By 2015, it is estimated that 560 cit-
tailored to suit the specific requirements ies across the globe will have a popula-
of the commuter train manufacturers and tion in excess of one million people ➔ 1.

Transforming suburban transport 55

 1 The urban and rural population of the world, 1950 to 2030

Population (billions)
6

0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030

World total population

World rural population
World urban population

This urban expansion is placing consid- ABB’s long and extensive track Within the last five years, the dramatic
erable strain on existing transportation record in commuter trains growth of commuter rail networks has
infrastructure, with unprecedented levels ABB provides traction transformers for helped ABB strengthen this reputation
of congestion becoming widespread in suppliers of commuter rail rolling stock further. The company has delivered
many urban areas. Evidence of this pres- transformers to serve dozens of cities in
sure can be seen in cities around the Europe, India, and even to new markets
world, ranging from those in Germany, Ester oil displays such as North America and Africa.
where commuters spend an average of
65 minutes each day travelling to work, excellent perfor- New Jersey
to China, where this figure rises to 83
minutes a day. Not only does this level of
mance charac- In North America, the NJ (New Jersey)
Transit system is a commuter rail net-
congestion impact upon the quality of life teristics at the high work that serves the New Jersey suburbs
of those subjected to it, but it also gener- of New York City, Newark, Trenton and
ates high levels of air pollution locally. In temperature fre- Philadelphia. NJ Transit is the fourth bus-
order to satisfy the increasingly critical
need for a solution to this problem, cities
quently experi- iest commuter rail network in North
America, carrying approximately 252,000
are moving to expand the reach and ca- enced when these passengers every weekday. Unlike many
pacity of their public transport networks. commuter trains in Europe, the trains
vehicles undergo that operate on this system use electric
As a leader in propulsion technologies, locomotives rather than EMUs. Bom-
ABB is helping cities in this battle against
periods of heavy bardier is the supplier of the ALP 46
congestion and pollution by contributing acceleration. Such (American Locomotive Passenger) loco-
several key technologies to the electric motive fleet to the NJ Transit system.
multiple units (EMUs) used by many innovations main- These locomotives are required to be
modern commuter network operators able to transition from zero to full throttle
around the world. These vehicles display
tain transformer instantaneously, a practice that is com-
significantly higher levels of energy-effi-
ciency when compared to diesel trains
efficiency while monly called for on North American rail
systems. Instantaneous acceleration
and buses and require relatively little providing the client generates a violent thermal shock as the
space to transport large passenger num- equipment undergoes a rapid tempera-
bers. By some estimates, convincing a with a readily biode- ture rise, a situation heightened under
commuter to switch from car to train will
reduce CO2 emissions by 50g / km [1]
gradable product. cold weather conditions. Bombardier
chose ABB to supply transformers for
these locomotives, supporting their reli-
To encourage passengers to use rail, ability under these challenging condi-
mass transport operators must offer an around the globe. The effective imple- tions ➔ 2.
affordable, reliable, and pleasant trans- mentation of innovative ideas and the
port experience. Often rail operators col- ability to serve the world-wide market Paris and suburbs
laborate closely with rolling stock manu- have helped ABB establish itself as a ABB has also supplied Bombardier with
facturers to ensure this. leading supplier of cutting-edge traction traction transformers for use on their
transformers. SPACIUM EMUs in France. These trains

56 ABB review 2|10

2 ABB traction transformer for Bombardier’s ALP 46 locomotive 3 The last generation of traction transformer for Alstom’s Porteur
Polyvalent platform

are to be operated by SNCF (the French ble. ABB won the contract to supply
National Railway Company) in and around traction transformers to power these 2008 represented
Paris, as part of an overall plan to exten- trains and worked closely with the client
sively renew the countries regional rail to produce a transformer, with DC line a landmark year in
network. These new EMU’s were derived
from Bombardier’s AGC (Autorail à
filter reactors and an auxiliary converter
inductor with a total weight of only
global urbanization
Grande Capacité) family of trains. ABB 2,650 kg ➔ 3. with more than half
had already delivered traction transform-
ers for the standard AGC platform and Switzerland of the world’s pop-
the AGC XBiBi versatile version. Drawing Switzerland has some of the worlds most
on these experiences, the most signifi- highly integrated and efficient public
ulation living within
cant challenge facing ABB engineers on transport systems. Although annual pas- urban areas. With
this SPACIUM project was to produce senger numbers only total approximately
transformers with minimal noise emis- 360 million, Switzerland's reliance on rail forecasters pre-
sions. ABB installed roof mounted, silent systems on a per capita basis is huge,
running traction transformers, as well as with each citizen taking an average of 49
dicting 60 percent
cooling systems that ensure lower noise
emissions. The commuter and regional
rail journeys per year representing the
highest per capita usage of rail services
of the global popu-
services operating in and around Paris for any European country. lation will live in
account for around 1 billion trips per
year, or 80 percent of national rail usage. Within the last six years, ABB has sup- urban neighbor-
This figure highlights the importance of
suburban rail networks and their poten-
plied a large number of traction trans-
formers for the Swiss railway market.
hoods by 2030, it
tial to improve efficient and reliable mass ABB won an order from Stadler Rail in is widely accepted
transport. In the case of Paris the devel- 2003 to equip its FLIRT (Fast Light Inno-
opment of the RER (Regional Express vative Regional Train) initially built for that this global
Network) has successfully combined ex-
isting rail infrastructure with the Paris
Switzerland ➔ 4. Drawing on this suc-
cessful project, ABB won repeat orders
trend is set to con-
Metro system so that the city centre and in the following years to equip further tinue.
the surrounding suburban areas are con- trains of the FLIRT platform for use in
nected providing an efficient and fully in- many other countries including Germany,
tegrated transport system. Hungary, Algeria, Finland, and Norway.
Today, almost 800 traction transformers
French regional have been delivered to Stadler Rail and
Further renewal of French suburban rail in the year 2009, the total number of
networks has led to investments in Als- transformers ordered for the FLIRT plat-
tom’s Coradia Polyvalent trains named form surpassed 1000 units.
Régiolis by their French operator. The
prime consideration for Alstom in the de- Based on their successful long term
sign of this single level modular train was partnership, Stadler Rail again chose
to reduce the weight as much as possi- ABB as supplier for the traction systems

Transforming suburban transport 57

4 ABB has received orders for more than 1,000 traction transfor- 5 ABB traction transformer for Siemen’s Desiro train
mers for Stadler Rail’s FLIRT trains.

of its new generation of double-decker Scotland Stadler (with ABB traction transformers)
multiple-unit train (DOSTO) for use on In another project with Siemens Mobility, for use on local services around the cap-
Zurich’s S-Bahn network. There are al- ABB was contracted to supply traction ital Alger (Algiers). These trains are nota-
ready follow-up orders for this type of transformers for trains destined for the ble because they are designed to carry
double-deck EMU from Switzerland, Scottish railway franchise Scotrail. Sie- high passenger densities of up to 10 per
Austria, and Germany. The DOSTO col- mens required environmentally-friendly, m2, in searing temperatures up to 55 °C.
laboration is likely to repeat the FLIRT highly efficient mono-system transform-
success story. ers for use on a new generation Desiro This project illustrates the strengths of
commuter train ➔ 5. ABB responded to standardization. The cooling of the FLIRT
India this challenge by producing transformers transformer was designed for 15 kV. The
In 2004, ABB was awarded a contract that used ester oil rather than conven- Algerian FLIRT, howewer, uses the same
from Siemens Mobility to supply trans- tional mineral oil as coolant. Ester oil dis- system at 25 kV, providing a greater cool-
formers for 172 EMUs intended to ser- plays excellent performance characteris- ing reserve and so making the train suit-
vice the Mumbai commuter rail system. tics at the high temperature frequently able for either higher ambient temperati-
This project presented specific challeng- experienced when these vehicles under- ures or higher power.
es for ABB’s engineers with the trans- go periods of heavy acceleration. Such
innovations main- South Africa
tain transformer In South Africa, ABB traction technolo-
Within the last six years, ABB efficiency while gies will power the Gautrain, an 80-kilo-
providing the client meter rapid mass transit railway linking
has supplied a large number with a readily bio- Johannesburg and Pretoria to Tambo In-

of traction transformers for degradable prod-

uct that makes its
ternational Airport. The Gauteng prov-
ince is at the heart of South Africa’s
FLIRT trains for Switzerland, ultimate decom- economy. It creates one-third of South
missioning more Africa’s gross domestic product and is
Germany, Hungary, Algeria, cost effective, and home to around 10 million people, one-
presenting fewer fifth of the population. ABB is playing a
Finland, Norway and other adverse environ- vital role in this project providing traction
countries. mental implica- solutions for the 24 electric train sets
tions throughout that will operate at speeds of up to
the product’s 160 km/h ➔ 6.
formers being required to function in In- working life. Further benefits include the
dia’s high tropical temperatures. The oil’s high fire point, which allows it to The Gautrain is a variant of Bombardier’s
traction transformers were designed to meet the UK safety requirements for op- award-winning Electrostar train, which
provide increased energy efficiency at eration in tunnels. These new trains will is widely used in the United Kingdom
higher temperatures. The Mumbai sys- be used by Scotrail to serve Glasgow’s and is powered by ABB traction trans-
tem is one of the most intensively utilized metropolitan area. formers.
public transportation networks in the
world and the Mumbai Suburban Railway Algeria Modifications were made to ABB’s stan-
alone carries more than 6.1 million com- In 2006, Algerian State Railways placed dardized transformer design for the Elec-
muters daily. an order for 64 new FLIRT trains from trostar to meet Gautrain’s specific re-

58 ABB review 2|10

6 The Bombardier’s Gautrain train with ABB Reducing weight of traction transformers
traction transformers

partners to ensure the best insulation compo-

nents are used to minimize weight, without
compromising the dielectric capacity.

A transformer’s design must accommodate load

cycles, as specified by the customer, using the
minimum weight of copper required to avoid any
risk of overheating. Transposed wires are used
to minimize harmonic losses and additional
weight reduction can be achieved, in some
ABB Sécheron factory in Geneva, the cases, by integrating the converter’s reactors
quirements for fast acceleration, low Group’s global "Centre of Excellence" for into the transformer’s housing, where they
noise emissions and adaptability to the traction transformers benefit from hydraulic cooling. Finally, software
African climate. These adaptations have is used to establish the minimum distance
Building on several decades of experience in the between the transformer’s winding and its tank.
enabled ABB to offer high-class traction
traction transformer business, ABB has worked This ensures that the transformer is as compact
solutions at an unbeatable quality to tirelessly to reduce the weight of its transform- as possible, without exceeding the external
price ratio. Chief among these modifica- ers, while continuing to provide the best levels of magnetic flux specified by the
tions is a huge increase in power of possible performance. customer.

around 40 percent to boost the train’s

The driving force for the efforts to reduce weight The weight of a transformer’s tank, whether
acceleration. was and remains the commuter- and high-speed made of steel or aluminum, is optimized using
train market, where each kilogram has a material the finite element method (FEM) to ensure
ABB, the irrefutable leader impact on operating costs and speed. mechanical robustness while minimizing weight.
In most transformers of this type, one or more
ABB has worked closely with leading
Weight is a primary consideration from the very cooling units are incorporated into the tank in
suppliers in the rail industry, providing beginning of the design process for ABB trans- order to simplify the hydraulic circuits and make
formers. Once the target weight has been each transformer an independent, self-cooling
established, the transformer is designed using unit. Such cooling systems are compact and
The SPACIUM the best available technology to achieve the
goal. ABB’s team of engineers works closely
highly effective with low-noise (< 93dB) motor
fans.

EMUs were derived with industry research and development

from the AGC

(Autorail a Grande
Capacite). ABB
delivered traction
transformers for
both AGC and
SPACIUM.
traction transformers for numerous com-
muter trains. These transformers have
accrued a high number of operation
hours worldwide and enabled millions of
trips to work and leisure in the world's
cities. Cécile Félon
Harry Züger
ABB Power Products
Genève, Switzerland
[email protected]
[email protected]

References
[1] Michaelis, L. (2009) Living Witness Project.
Your contribution to climate change.
(Retrieved April 2010) http://www.livingwitness.
org.uk/home_files/Calculating%20GHG%20
emissions.pdf

Transforming suburban transport 59

A perfect fit
ABB’s powerful propulsion converters are energy
efficient, reliable and very compact, making them
suitable for all rail vehicle designs

HARALD HEPP – In modern rail vehicles driven by electric combination of power electronics expertise, brought new,
motors, all movement is controlled and powered by highly successful traction converters to the railway
traction converters built on insulated gate bipolar transis- market that excel in energy efficiency, reliability, compact-
tor (IGBT) semiconductors. ABB is a leading supplier both ness and service-friendliness. In the global market, ABB
of power semiconductors and of a very broad portfolio of is one of the very few independent suppliers of traction
power electronic systems and applications, in particular converters or even complete traction chain packages.
of motor drives for all industry segments and power ABB is not building rail vehicles but supplying key power
ranges. In the past ten years, ABB, leveraging a unique sub-systems.

60 ABB review 2|10

 1 ABB’s 2.3 MW BORDLINE Compact Converter used to drive three axles in
dual-system CoCo locomotives

I
f one compares the electric traction verter how the train shall start, acceler- One of the key advantages of ABB trac-
motors in trams, motor coaches or ate or brake. Control algorithms process tion converters is that they are built on
locomotives to muscles in the hu- these signals in milliseconds, taking into the AC 800PEC control platform [1],
man body, the traction converters account the motor characteristics in dif- probably the most powerful modular
would be both the heart and the cerebel- ferent regimes of the motor frequency/ controller for high-speed performance
lum. As the heart, the converter ensures load diagram. In reality, however, a drive on the market ➔ 2. This control platform
the proper energizing bloodstream, and control system for rail vehicles is much is also used in ABB wind converters,
as the cerebellum it takes care of smooth more complex. The system has to cope high-power industrial drives, plant auto-
and precise movement and coordination with wheel slippage, which depends on mation, high-power rectifiers and many
through sophisticated control algorithms. weather conditions, slope, and the wear other applications. The AC 800PEC soft-
Speaking more in the language of railway of the rail track and wheels. Another ware is implemented on three perfor-
electrics, a traction converter provides challenging aspect
the exact voltage wave patterns for the can be the coordi-
traction motors to control their speed nation of different If the electric traction motors
and torque as well as the energy flow to motor axles of the
the wheels – or from the wheels back vehicle. As an ex- in trams, motor coaches or
when the vehicle brakes in regenerative
mode. A state-of-the-art energy-efficient
ample, ABB con-
verters showed
locomotives were compared
1.5 MW converter from ABB (BORD- benchmarking trac- to muscles in the human
LINETM CC1500_AC) for double-deck tion effort in field
EMU trains of Stadler Rail is shown on trials with a new body, the traction converters
page 60. The traction converter is the multi-system CoCo
“intelligent link” between, on the one locomotive of the
would be both the heart and
side, the energy supply through catenary, Spanish system in- the cerebellum.
transformer or Diesel-generator, and the tegrator Construc-
traction motors on the other side. ciones y Auxiliar de
Ferrocarriles (CAF) S.A. ➔ 1. The most mance levels, and this provides an excel-
Motor-side challenges essential functions of the drive control lent range of control and communication
On the motor side, the traction converter are the protection algorithms that make functionality in cycle times that extend
receives input signals from the motors, sure that the control reacts properly, reli- from the sub-microsecond to the milli-
for example phase currents, speed, and ably and safely in all imaginable irregular second level. The controller is comple-
motor temperature. This information is states of the complete propulsion sys- mented by a variety of input/output mod-
combined with the driver’s or vehicle tem. ules as well as engineering and service
control’s commands which tell the con- tools ➔ 3.

A perfect fit 61
2 ABB’s control platform AC 800PEC, which is employed in ABB traction converters 3 A BORDLINE CC1500_AC control frame
with the AC 800PEC controller, reflecting
a neat and lean hardware structure

Several teams of ABB hardware and Line-input-side challenges

software engineers dedicated entirely to Since the train is an often fast moving
working on traction converters, develop system, the catenary contact is not per-
traction-specific hardware configurations fectly stable. Hence, the converter has to
and software modules, and tailor them to compensate for fluctuations in input
the customer’s vehicles and projects. power. In weak electrification networks,
Compared to most other commercially like for instance in some parts of India,
available traction control systems, the adapting to varying line voltages, is an
application software in the AC 800PEC is even greater challenge.
built in a way that speeds up train com-
missioning significantly. The commis- Traction converter control should not
sioning engineer can adjust parameters only optimize the output voltage wave-
forms for the motors but it should also
make sure that the traction chain does
ABB traction not cause perturbations, oscillations or
higher harmonics on the input side. In
converters are built diesel-electric vehicles, the converter

on the AC 800PEC control needs to minimize distortions in

the generator waveform to reduce wear
control platform, and optimize energy efficiency. For elec-
tric trains, line-input control is even more
probably the most important in order to avoid safety-rele-
vant interference with signaling installa-
powerful modular tions. In certain networks, as described
controller for high- above, good traction converters in oper-
ation can even have a stabilizing effect
speed performance on the line voltage level and waveform.

on the market. An example for these challenges is the

system perturbation code in the Norwe-
and algorithms in real time to ensure gian 15 kV/16.7 Hz rail network. The rail
smooth and powerful motion over all infrastructure agency Jernbaneverket
speed and load ranges. Often the sys- demands a specific damping of low-fre-
tem integrators and rail operators are quency oscillations that arise through the
surprised at how quickly new vehicle de- load of trains running on long-distance
signs using ABB converters and drive parts of the network and the regulation
control come to life when they are pow- of small hydropower plants feeding these
ered and started for the first time. lines. ABB traction converters, because
of their powerful converter control pro-
gramming, were more than capable of
meeting these requirements by simply
adapting software already running on

62 ABB review 2|10

4 Adapted ABB control software on board a Stadler FLIRT train from Switzerland is given a test run in Norway

converters designed for trains in Switzer- vantages are manifold, ie, the tempera-
land. Test runs in Norway with a Swiss ture distribution in all parts of the con- Compared to
FLIRT train from Stadler Rail convinced verter is highly uniform, enhancing the
the Norwegian State Railways (NSB). To- lifetime of the power semiconductors. most other com-
day, ABB has orders for 300 BORDLINE Power modules can be built so small and
CC750 Compact Converters and 150 lightweight that one person can handle
mercially available
ABB traction transformers for NSB ➔ 4. them. No machine room or other cooling traction control
air flow needs to enter the converter, and
Designed to fit any vehicle design control electronics and power modules systems, the
In most rolling stock projects, the vehicle can be cleanly sealed from ambient dust,
design imposes challenging constraints dirt and humidity.
application
on the physical dimensions of traction
converters, transformers and motors. Designed for retrofit
software in the
Through very compact and lightweight In refurbishment projects, the challenges AC 800PEC is
constructions, the ABB equipment gives of fitting traction converters to the exist-
more freedom for the vehicle design. In ing vehicle are much tougher than in new built in a way that
principle, traction converters and trans-
formers can be mounted in the machine
designs because all interfaces, such as
the train control system, the line-input
speeds up train
room (see the converter in the title pic- side, motors, the cooling system, avail- commissioning
ture), under the floor ➔ 5 or on the roof of able space, and all fixings and connec-
the rail vehicle ➔ 6. The traction convert- tions are pre-defined. Nevertheless, significantly.
er design can also substantially reduce these complex projects can have a high
the size and weight of the transformer. return on investment provided the con-
verter supplier can offer a powerful mod-
How can ABB traction converters achieve ular platform with strong engineering and
this compactness and high power-densi- project management support. This can
ty? The recipe comprises internal liquid be illustrated with the retrofit solution for
cooling, smart power module design and ICE1 high-speed trains in Germany with
great care with the construction of the ABB converters. More details about this
aluminum or stainless steel housing. Re- retrofit project can be found on page 70
quirements for robustness of traction of this issue of ABB Review.
equipment are extremely tough; hence a
wealth of expertise in materials selection Multi-system trains that know no
and processing, welding and riveting borders
technology, FEM analysis, cooling tech- Nowadays rail vehicles increasingly need
nology and other fields is necessary to to cross borders of different electrifica-
achieve the weight reductions that ABB tion systems, eg, between countries with
can offer in traction projects. different DC and AC rail networks or be-
tween urban transport systems and
Internal liquid cooling for traction con- mainline rail services. Coping with differ-
verters, for instance, is a technology that ent input line voltages is a particular
ABB has developed and optimized with technical challenge for traction chains.
great care in the last ten years. The ad- ABB has come up with several smart and

A perfect fit 63
5 Under-floor converters

AC DC

Circuit
breaker

Propulsion
ASM
converter
Contactors
Transformer DC-Link
ASM

Voltage
limiter
4Q Line
Converter

Auxiliary 2
Rail (optional)

Auxiliary 1

Battery
charger
BORDLINE CC750 MS

5a Powerful ABB multi-system under-floor converters for narrow-gauge 5b Single-line diagram of this converter
vehicles

versatile solutions for such multi-system heritage, one of the world’s steepest ad-
ABB builds low- trains. hesion lines with a 7 percent incline, has
1 kV DC electrification.
voltage and medi- Consider, for example, Italy and Switzer-

um-voltage power land. Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia

(TILO), a subsidiary of the Swiss Federal
In early 2010, the first powerful dual-sys-
tem mountain trains from Stadler Rail,
electronic drives Railways (SBB), is an operator of regional called “Allegra”, started commercial ser-
train services between Switzerland (15 kV vice after successful test runs in the last
for all kinds of AC 16.7 Hz electrification) and Italy (3 kV six months. For these narrow gauge
DC electrification). Between 2005 and trains, ABB developed under-floor mount-
applications. 2009, TILO ordered a total of 31 FLIRT ed Compact Converters that comprise
trains (3 MW) from Stadler Rail with ABB two 350 kW propulsion converters, gal-
traction packages (the transformer was vanically insulated auxiliary converters
designed by ABB Sécheron and Com- and a battery charger, all in one very ro-
pact Converters) that can run in both net- bust cubicle. Each train is equipped with
works without interruption. The dimen- four BORDLINE Compact Converters
sions and most modules correspond to and two under-floor traction transform-
the pure AC version which SBB has ers – LOT1250 – designed by ABB
bought for Switzerland in more than 80 Sécheron. Deliveries of 60 converters
trains since 2002. By doing this, SBB and and 30 transformers will continue into
TILO now reap the benefits of optimum the second half of 2010.
service and spare part management, and
reduced total fleet cost. It also showcas- A unique market position
es the satisfaction of SBB with the ABB ABB builds low-voltage and medium-
solution. The same multi-system traction voltage power electronic drives for all
package design was also ordered by kinds of applications: to propel ships;
Südtiroler Transportstrukturen in 2007 for power wind tunnels; or control large and
eight trains commissioned for service be- small motors in sophisticated industrial
tween Italy and Austria (15 kV AC). processes. These drives save huge
amounts of energy, enhance automation,
For historical reasons, the mountain rail improve process quality and reduce me-
operator Rhätische Bahn (RhB) in Swit- chanical wear. Related power electronic
zerland has different line voltages in their technology is used to feed energy from
network. While most of it is powered by wind generators or photo-voltaic plants
11 kV 16.7 Hz, the line across the Berni- into the power grid or to stabilize power
na pass, listed in the UNESCO world networks. Continuous innovation in these

64 ABB review 2|10

6 Highly integrated BORDLINE Compact Converters that are mounted on the roof of tramways and narrow-gauge regional trains

The roof-mounted BORDLINE Compact tramways and narrow-gauge regional trains at in Switzerland (Basel, Berne-Solothurn, the
Converters of ABB are examples of complete line voltages of between 600 and 1,500 VDC. Lausanne region and the greater Zurich area),
and highly integrated power-electronics They are characterized by adaptable mechani- Germany (Bochum, Mainz, Munich, Nuremberg
sub-systems that consist of two motor cal, electrical and logical interfaces to the and Potsdam), Austria (Graz), China (Changc-
inverters, two auxiliary converter outputs, a vehicle, very low weight and small dimensions. hun), France (Lyon) and Norway (Bergen).
battery charger, a braking chopper and all These types of roof-mounted converters have
control electronics. They are suitable for use on already been sold to public transport operators

6a BORDLINE Compact Converter for light rail vehicles 6b Compact Converter that is mounted on the roof of narrow gauge EMUs

tion specification and system integration

BORDLINE CC750 for EMUs. To date, Stadler
Rail has bought more than 2,500 of this class to the train manufacturer. However, le-
of converter for FLIRT and GTW trains. veraging economies of scale, ABB can
optimize and standardize on the sub-
system and module level.

Harald Hepp
ABB Automation Products, Traction Converters
ABB applications also benefits from the ABB Switzerland Ltd.
fact that ABB is one of the leading sup- Turgi, Switzerland
pliers of power semiconductors. [email protected]

More and more rail vehicle manufactur-

Reference
ers and fleet operators are turning to
[1] Johansen, E. Design patterns: Co-design pat-
ABB for drive solutions, even those who terns for advanced control with AC 800PEC.
have some converter production in- ABB Review 2/2006, 62–65.
house. ABB’s flexibility means customers
can procure single components only –
according to the customer’s specifica- Further reading
Hepp, H., Cavalcante, F., Biller, P. Performance on
tions – or they can buy complete opti- track: Electric power on trains – designed by ABB
mized, energy-efficient and cost-effective to make journeys more comfortable. ABB Review
traction chains. ABB leaves the applica- 2/2008, 25–29.

A perfect fit 65
Standardizing the
traction motor
PETER J ISBERG, MARK CURTIS – Trains are frequently custom made to
ABB’s innovative accommodate the individual technical specifications of different rail
modular induction service providers. Each new design requires a variety of unique, train-
specific components that are supplied by additional independent
traction motor original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Traditionally the traction
motor is among the many custom made components required by train
sets new heights in manufacturers. These motors are intensively engineered to ensure
adaptability function and quality, which results in increased complexity throughout
the value chain and adversely affects their manufacturing lead time. To
overcome these problems, ABB has developed a new range of induction
traction motors with built-in flexibility so that customer-specific require-
ments can be met using a single modular design.

66 ABB review 2|10

 to help lower operating costs for cus-
1 ABB’s new modular traction motor
tomers. During the design process all as-
pects of the traction motor could be
freely manipulated with one exception.
To maximize scalability, the new range of
traction motors had to comply with the
standard IEC (International Electrotech-
nical Commission) frame sizes specified
for ABB’s low-voltage (LV) motors. The
frame sizes in the new series were de-
signed to provide partial overlap in per-
formance (power and torque) so that
customers could be provided with the
optimal traction motor to fulfill their needs
concerning space and performance ➔ 1.
Cooling setup and mechanical interfaces are
Highly adaptable defined building blocks that ensure the major
structure of the motor is standardized. Several
To accommodate a variety of perfor-
positions are available for air intake or power
mance demands, ABB’s new series of cable connections on the housing providing
traction motors has an innovative modu- great flexibility.
lar design that provides flexible custom-
ized construction. A major feature of its Flexible mounting
adaptability is that drive and non-drive The modular induction traction motor
ends of the motor are not predefined. In range has mounting brackets that can be
addition the length of the motor can be fitted in a variety of positions so that ve-
adjusted to meet specific space and op- hicle builders are free to fit motors by any
eration demands and the position of the method (suspended or non-suspended)
to any bogie 1. This means the optimal

T
he traction motor is an electric terminal box and air in-take and outlet
motor used to power the driv- ducts can be adjusted to optimize per- position of the motor can be found to in-
ing wheels of a railway vehicle. formance and space constraints. Fur- tegrate the motor within the least amount
Traditionally each traction mo- thermore, the unit can be cooled either of space giving train manufacturers and
tor was custom made to fit a specific ve- by open self ventilation (OSV) or by open OEMs the freedom to fit or retrofit ABB
hicle. This inevitably resulted in long lead forced ventilation (OFV) according to the traction motors to both new and existing
times to accommodate the design, engi- customer’s wishes. The flexible design designs. The whole structure including
neering, product-specific supply chain means that an OFV can be converted to the brackets and their associated attach-
logistics, quality assurance and the cre- an OSV simply by adding an elongation ment is designed to fulfill IEC 61373
ation of new production line facilities. ring and a fan and extending the shaft, (shock and vibration) standards without
providing customized traction motors having to reduce the motor’s mechanical
ABB’s new series of modular induction performance.
traction motors is the result of several
years of product design and develop- ABB’s new series Durable and versatile
ment. The project was initiated in 2007, The modular induction traction motor se-
not only to create a traction motor with of traction motors ries is designed to be durable and versa-
universal appeal to train builders, but
also to enable effective engineering, sup-
has an innovative tile. Many parts have integrated functions
to help reduce the number of compo-
ply and production processes, and to modular design nents and ensure the product is compact
maintain ABB’s lead as an independent and robust. They are designed to endure
supplier of traction motors. An interdisci- that provides extreme temperatures and polluted envi-
plinary team of engineers, suppliers, pro- ronments.
duction specialists and researchers were
flexible customized
brought together to create a new traction construction. Customers want traction motors with the
motor that would not only satisfy a wide lowest possible weight and compact de-
variety of customers, but would also sign, while at the same time providing a
streamline production and the sourcing from standardized modular components.
of supplies, reduce the cost of poor qual- This provides a standard structure for
Footnote
ity (COPQ) and ultimately lower the total traction motors with different cooling 1 A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In
costs throughout the product’s life cycle, methods so that the service and access mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or frame-
where energy consumption is a dominant to spare parts is simplified. work carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle.
It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck,
factor. During this design phase, special
mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage or
attention was given to energy efficiency, locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a
reliability, and fast and easy maintenance caterpillar tracked vehicle.

Standardizing the traction motor 67

 mal network software it is possible to
2 Schematic picture representing tools and processes for the optimization
of traction motors simulate the expected motor tempera-
ture during its service with great accura-
Train operation cycle cy. The structure of the software can be
Train effort versus time Train speed versus time seen in ➔ 2. Inputs are the line simulation
throughout the line profile throughout the line profile
Train effort

Train speed
The traction motor
features a new
3. A 3-D lumped parame-
Time Time

1. The fundamental motor

electrical design,
ter thermal design soft- Analytical electromagnetic losses are calculated
ware is then updated
with the fundamental
design software throughout the train line
using ABB developed
optimized for high
losses from the ana-
lytical software and the
Motor
temperatures
Strong
interaction
Sinusoidal
losses
analytical electrical
motor design software. energy efficiency
time harmonic losses
from the FEM software.
3-D lumped parameter 4. The temperature rise
and a competitive
2. Time harmonic losses
thermal design software is calculated and the
resulting temperature performance/
are calculated using is used as input to the
custom made FEM-
based electrical motor
Time harmonic
losses
Weak
interaction
Motor
temperatures
design software, which
will generate accurate
weight ratio.
design software taking thermal predictions and
Finite element
the switching strategy thus ensure reliable
electromagnetic design
of the converter into motor operation.
software
account. of the train and the switching character-
istics of the converter and outputs are
Phase to phase motor voltage versus time Stator winding temerature rise versus time the temperature rise of critical motor
parts, such as stator winding and bear-
temperature rise (K)
Motor voltage

Stator winding

ing temperature.

Special effort has been made to decrease

Uab Time Time harmonic losses, noise and torque pul-
Traction converter characteristics
sations, in a robust design and with pro-
duction methods that ensure high quality
standards. The insulation system con-
high power and torque output over a life- motors and traction converters fulfill very tains corona resistant materials 3, has
time of up to 20 to 30 years. In order to high specifications designed to meet low water absorption properties, com-
achieve high power density and reliability, precise requirements. In traction applica- plies with temperature class 200 4, and
it is not enough to only optimize the cool- tions the switching frequency of the con- takes advantage of ABB’s knowledge
ing capability and the electrical design. verter is usually low, which makes the and experience having delivered traction
All aspects of the motor’s design must harmonic effects in the motor more pro- motors since 1909.
be optimized. nounced. With the help of state-of-the-
art FEM (finite element method) software Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
Energy efficiency and reliability (developed by the Helsinki University of Special care was taken to optimize ther-
The traction motor features a new elec- Technology and optimized solely for elec- mal design. The output of the motor is
trical design, optimized for high energy trical machines), it was possible to get thermally limited and the motor needs to
efficiency and a competitive perfor- the best electrical design for the convert- be cooled efficiently. Cooling ducts (sta-
mance/weight ratio. A key design feature er by taking into account its characteris- tor and rotor) and the fan have been op-
is that the rotor cage is made of alumi- tics and certain optimization criteria: timized with respect to cooling efficiency
num, die-cast directly into the rotor lami- – Torque ripple minimization 2 as well as noise. Using CFD modeling,
nations without the presence of any sol- – Low noise and vibrations along with the electromagnetic computa-
dered interfaces. This is a robust and – High efficiency tions, it was possible to predict the likely
proven design that enhances the reliabil- – Low current
ity of the product. Alternatively, the mo- – Efficient cooling capability Footnotes
tor can be equipped with a copper rotor 2 The amount of torque measured by subtract-
cage if slightly higher energy efficiency is Thermodynamic design ing the minimum torque during one revolution
from the maximum torque from the same motor
desired. The traction motor is powered The temperature rise and thermal design
revolution.
by a converter feeding the motor with is critical in traction motor applications. 3 A corona resistant insulation material has higher
voltage and frequency. Very accurate estimations of the temper- resistance against deterioration when a high-
ature rise of critical parts of the motor are voltage electrostatic field ionizes.
4 Temperature classification (also known as tem-
During the electrical design of traction crucial to its reliability. By coupling ana-
perature class) defines the maximum continu-
motors it is essential to optimally match lytical electrical design software, FEM- ous temperature that an insulation system can
the motor and converter. The traction electrical design software and 3-D ther- sustain in degrees Celsius.

68 ABB review 2|10

 sors to be replaced without detaching
3 Sectional CFD analysis of a fan
the motor from the bogie. The modular
design simplifies maintenance proce-
dures for all parts. By taking into account
the service needs of a bogie-mounted
motor at the design stage and standard-
izing spare parts, the new traction motor
can be partly serviced in the bogie help-
ing to reduce operational downtime and
costs over the product’s life cycle.

Currently ABB is working to extend trac-

tion motor products to serve a range of
Contours of velocity magnitude (m/s) transport needs from LRV (light rail vehi-
cles) to locomotives. The focus is to fur-
ther standardize the structure, increase
location of hot spots in the event of mo- the energy efficiency and reduce mainte-
tor overload, which helped identify areas nance. Synchronous motor topologies
in which modifications were made to im- are also under development, eg, perma-
prove cooling and reduce losses. nent magnet motors, but despite the ob-
vious advantages of such topology (ie,
Furthermore CFD simulation of a fan pro- energy efficiency and torque density)
vides a complete picture of its operation. there are also several disadvantages.
It can identify areas where there are recir- These include greater sensitivity to
culation problems and determine the flow shock, overheating, and complex pro-
rate, but more importantly, it can help es- duction and maintenance procedures.
tablish the cause of problems and reliably ABB aims to strengthen the advantages
direct design improvements. The fan de- and minimize the disadvantages with its
sign can then be optimized to minimize future synchronous products.
energy consumption, lower losses, re-
duce noise levels, optimize blade number, ABB has been manufacturing industrial
prolong component life and provide great- motors for more than 130 years; traction
er flexibility in the traction motor system. motors for 100 years and has supplied
more than 30,000 traction installations
Optimized design during the last few decades. These in-
The structural design of the product pro- stallations range from heavy locomotives
for intercity ex-
presses through to
ABB is ready to meet increas- light metropolitan
tramways. The
ing demands for energy effi- new series of mod-

cient electric traction motors ular induction trac-

tion motors will
in the rail industry. add to ABB’s repu-
tation as a global
leader in power
vides a variety of options to further en- and automation technologies, providing Peter J Isberg
hance or monitor the performance of the a truly versatile traction motor designed ABB Machines, Discrete Automation
motor. ABB provides all types of bearing to fit a wide variety of locomotives, en- and Motion, ABB AB
solutions from the traditional c4 steel abling rail operators to improve perfor- Västerås, Sweden
bearings to more advanced hybrid bear- mance while lowering their environmental [email protected]
ings with ceramic ball and roller ele- impact.
ments, including HUB solutions (hybrid Mark Curtis
bearings greased for life). New air filter- The ABB series of traction motors with ABB Review
ing techniques are under development their wide range of specifications and Zurich, Switzerland
and thermal sensors can be placed in a modular design are poised to meet in- [email protected]
variety of positions, eg, in the windings, creasing demand for energy efficient
stator core or bearings, the latter provid- electric traction motors in the rail indus-
Special acknowledgments to Nassar Abu-Sitta
ing early indications of bearing failure. try.
(thermal design), Viktor Nyden and Torbjörn Trosten
Integrated speed sensors help keep the (electrical design) ABB Machines, Discrete Automa-
motor compact, while allowing the sen- tion and Motion

Standardizing the traction motor 69

Dedicated
service
ABB offers a broad service
palette for rail customers

VINCENT MOINE, HARALD HEPP, SANDRO MACIOCIA – The majority of articles pub-
lished in ABB Review focus on the latest technologies and products. Whereas the
newsworthiness of a technology often correlates with it being state-of-the-art, ABB
is aware that in their day to day operations, many customers are dealing with far
more than just the company’s latest products. A typical customer’s installed base
may have been built up and developed over a period of 40 years or more, and will
reflect the different technological paradigms of that period. ABB has hence
developed a service portfolio to help customers face this challenge. Thanks to its
vast knowledge base, the company can provide service for rolling stock regardless
of type or age – even extending this service to the equipment of other manufactur-
ers. Work performed can range from routine diagnosis and maintenance to retrofit-
ting, re-engineering and heavy overhauls.

T
raditionally, railway companies opments affecting traditional railway
have performed their mainte- companies include the loss of special-
nance and engineering in- ized knowledge through the retirement of
house, and frequently operat- an aging workforce, and also the intro-
ed large and specialized workshops for duction of modern technologies whose
this purpose. Recent years have seen a maintenance requires different skill sets.
shift in this approach, with railways in-
creasingly entrusting such work to exter- From ABB’s perspective as an equip-
nal contractors. One factor that has lead ment manufacturer, providing service to
to this change is that many new opera- railway operators has the additional ad-
tors have entered the market in the wake vantage that the understanding of main-
of liberalization. These companies usu- tenance needs and of the behavior of
ally wish to concentrate on the opera- equipment throughout its lifetime is fed
tions side of their business, and hence back within the organization and used to
outsource maintenance to specialists. improve future designs. Ultimately, the
However, not only new operators stand closing of this feedback loop benefits
to gain from such arrangements. Devel- both manufacturer and customer.

70 ABB review 2|10

Dedicated service 71
1 ABB manufactures a broad range of components for railway systems, and also provides service for these.

SCADA
Substation
Customers, segments
Main and auxiliary Power transformers
converters
Indoor medium voltage switchgear
High voltage
Traction ce
products Distribution and special transformers rvi cy lue
transformers se an va
Protection and control cle s ult e d
cy on dd
e- C A
Traction motors Outdoor medium Lif

Motors
Transformers
voltage products

Power electronics
City railways
Semiconductors
Power quality

Services
Small/private railways
Low voltage
Customer choosing to
Communication outsource service
Substations and
SCADA National railways,
AC breaker international railways
Interlocking systems Low voltage components ABB supplies
Auxiliary converters
Traction transformer
Signaling Motors and generators Traction fuses
Car-borne equipment

A look at much of the rolling stock built cle of equipment is permitting a shift from
With many railways over recent decades reflects the devel- time-based to condition-based mainte-
opment of the industry during that peri- nance, maximizing availability and reliabil-
across the world od. Until about 20 years ago, most man- ity while also reducing the costs of inter-

expected to handle ufacturers were local and many countries

presented semi-closed markets in which
ventions and the associated downtime.

increasing traffic in suppliers enjoyed almost symbiotic rela- Besides smaller repairs during its life-
tionships with their customers. The sub- time, rolling stock often sees heavier en-
an increasingly sequent opening of these markets has gineering work at some point in its life.
led to a rapid concentration of manufac- Typically, this takes the form of a so-
competitive envi- turing into larger international or even called mid-life overhaul. The mid life-
ronment, overhauls global companies, and permitted a point splits the operating life of 30 to 40
greater standardization of platforms and years into two sections of about 15 to 20
can often present components. However, the longevity of years. The latter period is an optimal in-
equipment means that trains manufac- terval for heavy overhauls of such com-
an economically tured prior to these developments will ponents as transformers and motors.
attractive alterna- continue to see intensive use for many Furthermore, the opportunity of such an
years. Today’s service and maintenance intervention can be taken to make design
tive to replace- providers are thus required to under- modifications, either to suit changed
stand a broad range of designs and demands or operating conditions, or to
ment. technologies. include the benefits of technological
developments. For example older GTO-
The range of railway components which or thyristor-based converters can be
ABB manufactures, and also supplies replaced by modern IGBT-based ones,
service for, is shown in ➔ 1. At one end of permitting more economic and efficient
the scale of its service offerings, ABB can operation.
support customers with spare parts and
maintenance planning. At the other end, Transformers
major retrofits can upgrade products per- Having been involved in AC railway elec-
mitting them to operate more efficiently trification since the earliest days, ABB
and economically. Retrofit can sometimes can look back on a long history of in-
present an interesting alternative to re- volvement in traction transformers. It is
placement. ABB’s service offerings thus not uncommon to find examples aged 30
protect the customer’s investment by re- to 40 years in daily use today. With ac-
ducing lifecycle costs, permitting equip- cess to both experience and documen-
ment to work harder and longer and in- tation from predecessor companies such
creasing reliability and availability. as ASEA, BBC, SAAS, MFO and TIBB,
ABB is well placed to provide service and
Service planning support for traction transformers. Fur-
The collection and analysis of condition thermore, ABB’s transformer expertise is
and diagnostic data throughout the lifecy- far from limited to railway applications:

72 ABB review 2|10

2 ABB’s global transformer expertise features 30 service centers 4 Repair of transformers for SNCF BB36000
and 1,000 experts locomotives

Vaasa, Finland
Drammen, Norway
Ludvika, Sweden
Edmonton, Canada Stone, United Kingdom
Halle, Germany
Brampton, Canada Geneva, Switzerland
,
Datong, China
Milan & Monselice, Italy
Varennes, Canada
Bilbao & Istanbul, Turkey
St. Louis, USA South Boston, USA Cordoba,
Spain Zhongshan, China
Mexico City, Mexico Vadodara, India
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia In 2008/09, ABB performed factory repairs on
Bangkok, Thailand the transformers of three of SNCF’s (French
national railways) BB36000 locomotives. The
Lima, Peru
work performed included:
Guarulhos, Brazil
Moorebank, Australia – Inspection, cleaning, diagnostic measure-
Manufacturing
ments and expertise.
Service – Exchange of active part and reactors
(windings and core)
– Replacement of all the gaskets and
damaged accessories such as low voltage
and high voltage bushings, oil level
indicator, valves
3 ABB TransForLife™ lifecycle service solutions for traction transformers
– Revision of pump and cooling system
– Electrical routine tests according to
Traction transformer life cycle (years) IEC standards
0 5 10 15 20 25 25 30 45 – Oil Analysis after repair
Time based maintenance Condition based maintenance Time based maintenance
These transformers were not ABB products,
– Advanced diagnostic – Advanced diagnostic but originally manufactured by a French
– Periodic factory revision / – Periodic factory revision / competitor. ABB’s capacity to perform these
On-site revision ABB Midlife
On-site revision
fleet overhaul repairs shows the company’s ability to
– Warrenty extension – Warrenty extension
understand and work with third-party
Based on ABB expertise: Based on ABB expertise: products.
– Life cycle cost study (LCC) ABB Railway – Life cycle cost study (LCC)
– Maintenance planning overhaul – Maintenance planning
package Photo above: SNCF
(MTBF calculation) (MTBF calculation)
– ABB ServIS database – ABB ServIS database

Spare parts
– ABB Safety kit (spare parts)
– ABB Traction transformer spare units

ABB TransForLife™ maintenance program

Corrective maintenance
– Factory repair
– ABB TrafoSiteRepair
– Winding supply
Engineering
– Consultacy
– Power upgrade – Design modification
– Technical studies

The company can draw on its broader ABB’s global presence means that it has
knowledge by extending such offerings 30 centers of transformer expertise
as parts of its ABB TransForLife TM solu- across the world, and can draw on the
tions package to on-board traction trans- knowledge of some 1,000 experts ➔ 2.
formers. This covers both on-site and These ABB service centers are all able to
factory repair/revision as well as mainte- offer transformer service and to support
nance contracts and spare parts. Simi- and to effect repairs. A typical traction
larly, traction transformers benefit from transformer lifecycle is shown in ➔ 3. The
the company’s simulation and diagnos- diagram shows the services that ABB
tics packages 1. TransForLifeTM Solutions can offer during
the different phases of the vehicle’s life-
ABB estimates that some 70,000 of its cycle.
traction transformers are in use today.
Furthermore, the company’s scope ex- Examples of recent refurbishment proj-
Footnote
tends beyond these as was shown by ects are presented in ➔ 4 and ➔ 5.
1 For more information on traction transformers
some recent projects involving trans- see also "Transforming suburban transport" on
formers of other suppliers. page 55 of this edition of ABB Review.

Dedicated service 73
5 Mid-life fleet overhaul of Euroshuttle locomotives 6 Traction motor overhaul for Matterhorn-
Gotthardbahn

Eurotunnel operates a fleet of dedicated work included for each of the 17 traction The Matterhorn-Gotthardbahn (MGB) is a
Bo-Bo-Bo locomotives on its shuttle trains transformers : Swiss narrow gauge railway serving, among
transporting cars, coaches and lorries through – Oil analysis, interpretation and other destinations, the car-free resort of
the Channel Tunnel between England and France. recommendation Zermatt at the foot of the world-famous
As the tunnel is more than 100 m below sea level, – Inspection, cleaning and diagnostic Matterhorn mountain. Some parts of the
trains enter it through inclined sections at either measurement MGB’s route are rack railways and others are
end. The locomotives must not only be powerful – Inspection and control of the active part adhesion worked, with the rolling stock being
enough to start the heaviest train on these (pressure of the windings, spacers) able to work on both systems. During the last
gradients, but the tunnel’s special significance – Mechanical optimization of the tank two years, ABB received several orders for
and length have led to stringent demands in (O-ring gasket) products and services from MGB:
terms of fire protection and redundancy which – Replacement of all gaskets, refilling – Overhaul and repairs
these locomotives must fulfill. with fresh oil – Supply of capital spares (complete rotors,
– Special tightness test under pressure complete stators)
ABB won the order to overhaul the 15 years old with warm oil – Supply of spare parts
traction transformers of 17 of these locomotives – Electrical routine tests “as-new” – New windings and commutators
in a three-year contract lasting from 2006 to – Oil analysis after overhaul for DC-Motors
2008. The scope of this preventive maintenance
Photo: Matterhorn-Gotthardbahn
Left-hand photo: Eurotunnel

Motors the washing of parts in a spray booth

Similarly to its transformer expertise, and drying them in a vacuum oven.
ABB’s experience with traction motors Where needed, motors can be rewound
goes back to the early days of railway and parts replaced. Should replacement
electrification. ABB’s predecessor com- parts no longer be available, replica parts
panies were already making traction mo- can be manufactured. Indeed, the scope
tors in the 1890s. ABB has thus inherited of replacement can extend from spare
a great wealth of knowledge and experi- parts, to capital spares (a complete sta-
ence and is now not only able to manu- tor or rotor), or even a complete replace-
facture state-of-the-art traction motors ment motor. Spare parts can also be
but also to provide a full range of service, supplied directly to customers to support
stretching from spare parts to overhauls their own inventory and maintenance ac-
and repairs, and covering both current tivities.
and older types of traction motor.
At the core of a state-of-the art repair or
The overhaul of a traction motor involves overhaul is the Vacuum Pressure Impreg-
the comprehensive dismantling, control nation (VPI) of stator windings using the
and exchange of wearing parts such as patented Gemodur® (for DC-Motors) or
Veridur®-Plus (for
AC Motors) tech-
ABB’s global presence means nology. These im-
pregnation tech-
that it has 30 centers of trans- nologies guarantee
strength of the
former expertise across the electrical insulation
world, and can draw on the system against
both continuous
knowledge of some 1,000 and variation of
high temperatures,
experts. as well as the me-
chanical stability of
bearings or brushes in order to guaran- the windings and the iron core in view of
tee the specified number of kilometers of vibrations. They also assure durable pro-
operation. This work typically involves tection against dust, corrosion and hu-

74 ABB review 2|10

midity. The repair or overhaul of a trac-
7 Auxiliary converters for the Swiss regional train refurbishment project “Domino”
tion motor is concluded with the
balancing of the motor, re-assembly, final
testing, and painting with silicone-based
varnish.

Extending beyond these repairs targeted

at maintaining designed performance
levels, motors can also be modified and
improved beyond their original specifica-
tions. This may be necessary to cope
In 2006, Swiss federal railways (SBB) embarked regulated DC- and three-phase AC-outputs,
with a different voltage or other changes on their largest refurbishment program for filters and all control electronics (see also “A
in the power supply, or to permit the mo- regional trains so far. This project, Domino, perfect fit” on pages 60–65 of this issue of ABB
tor’s rated power or speed to be in- essentially consists of a general overhaul of the Review). The scalable BORDLINE M platform
20-year-old “NPZ”* motor and driving trailer for railway coaches with 1000 VAC/16.7 Hz
creased 2.
cars and a replacement of the 40-year-old train supply uses air-forced cooling (like most
intermediate coaches. The tender to supply the other BORDLINE M series). It features a battery
An example of a recent motor refurbish- new intermediate coaches was awarded to charger with a flat-battery start function.
ment projects is presented in ➔ 6. Bombardier while the general overhaul of the
end cars is being executed in SBB’s own work- The delivery schedule for this major refurbish-
shops in Yverdon and Olten. Faiveley won the ment project was very challenging with a
Converters order for the new HVAC equipment of these prototype converter of the 45 kVA type to be
Converters play a key role in most large cars. New auxiliary converters were needed for delivered only two months after the awarding of
refurbishment projects for rail vehicles. both the refurbished coaches (25 kVA) and the the contract. Series deliveries started in July
new ones (45 kVA). ABB managed to indepen- 2008 with up to four converters per week.
When train fleets are renovated, typically
dently win the converter contracts from both Depending on how the refurbishment
after 15–20 years, operators often seek Faiveley and Bombardier. This resulted in the continues, converter deliveries will continue at
higher power, efficiency and reliability advantage of a common auxiliary converter plat- least until the end of 2011.
and lower maintenance costs. form and a common stock of spare parts. More
than 300 converters have been ordered for this Footnotes
project so far, with further options pending. * NPZ: Neuer Pendelzug
Auxiliary converters ** See also “BORDLINE M: A very high
The demand for auxiliary power on trains ABB’s BORDLINE M** static (auxiliary) efficiency AC/DC/DC converter architecture
has increased considerably in recent converters are very compact and rugged but for traction auxiliary services”, ABB Review
lightweight units that include galvanic insulation, 2/2009 pages 35–41.
years. Staff and passengers increasingly
expect HVAC (heating, ventilation and

Motors can be
modified and
improved beyond
their original
specifications,
permitting rated
power or speed
to be increased.

Footnote
2 See also,"Standardizing the traction motor" on
page 66 of this edition of ABB Review.

Dedicated service 75
 to be refurbished. ABB recently supplied
8 Propulsion converter retrofit solution for ICE1 high-speed trains of Deutsche Bahn (DB)
traction converters for the retrofit of an
ICE1 German high-speed train ➔ 8.

Outlook
With many railways across the world ex-
pected to handle increasing traffic in an
increasingly competitive environment,
overhauls can often present an economi-
cally attractive alternative to replace-
The ICE1 fleet was the first series production lower harmonics on both motor and supply
of high-speed trains in Germany. After about sides. Among other positive effects, this
ment. ABB is well placed to offer services
14 years of operation, Deutsche Bahn (DB) minimizes energy losses and reduces stress on tailed to the customer’s demands and
launched a refurbishment program in summer the motors, enhancing their life expectation. the particularities of the equipment.
2005. The interior of all coaches was redesigned Compared to the thyristor converters being
(for which the DB received the Brunel Award for replaced, energy consumption was cut by 15
railway design in 2008). For the power cars, DB percent. Besides making the train greener, this
launched a tender in 2007 with the goal of substantially reduces operating costs (more than
replacing older thyristor-equipped traction 100,000 Euros – ca. $ 140,000 – per year and
converters by modern IGBT converters. train). The old thyristor power modules weighed
300 kg and were almost 1.5 m in length. ABB’s
Mainly due to high scoring high in terms of three-level IGBT modules weight less than 35kg
energy efficiency and life cycle costs, ABB could and have dimensions of about 80 × 40 × 20 cm
win the prototype order in September 2008. meaning they can be exchanged by one person
Within only 13 months, ABB developed and without any lifting tools. High modularity,
produced new traction converters for two increased reliability and sophisticated software
4.8 MW ICE1 power cars. Retrofitting a for service and diagnosis also contribute to the
propulsion converter into an older train is in reduction of maintenance requirements of the
many respects much more demanding than ICE1 fleet.
developing a new traction chain from scratch. All
major interfaces are fixed and given, in particular Test runs successfully began in November 2009.
the physical and logical interfaces to the Following further thorough testing and
vehicle’s older control system (which was re-homologation process, DB will decide
retained), as well as the terminals and electrical whether it will refit a further 36 ICE1 power cars
characteristics of motors, transformer, cooling with this new IGBT converter.
system and all mechanical parameters.
Left-hand photo: DB
The new converter is based on ABB’s three-level
topology for power modules, resulting in much

air-conditioning) systems and other fa- at which technology has developed in

cilities such as passenger information this area. Components such as semicon-
and entertainment systems, power sock- ductors, control electronics and software
ets for laptops and vacuum toilets. Such have developed rapidly over the past
offerings are largely standard on new ve- 15 to 20 years. Today’s products are Vincent Moine
hicles 3, and if older vehicles are to re- often so much more capable, effective ABB Sécheron SA, Traction Transformers
main attractive to passengers, they must and efficient that seeking to refurbish Genève, Switzerland
offer comparable levels of comfort. Exist- and retain old arrangements is often nei- [email protected]
ing auxiliary power systems on trains are ther economical nor attractive. Further-
often not able to cope with present de- more, spare parts may be difficult to pro- Sandro Maciocia
mands and must be re-designed from cure. ABB Automation Products, Electrical Machines
scratch. An example of an ongoing retro- Birr, Switzerland
fit project is presented in ➔ 7. It is thus not surprising that ABB, as an [email protected]
independent component supplier, often
Traction power receives requests from service compa- Harald Hepp
Refurbishment of traction converters nies, large workshops, OEMs, railway or ABB Automation Productions, Traction Converters
typically seeks to increase efficiency and mass transit operators concerning the Turgi, Switzerland
vehicle performance while reducing wear replacement of converters. [email protected]
and maintenance costs and sometimes
also weight 4. ABB’s traction converters are based on a Footnotes
modular platform, offering the advantage 3 See also “Performance on track: Electric power
Whereas components such as motors of short realization times and low devel- products on trains – designed by ABB to make
and transformers are usually refurbished opment risk. The engineering effort of journeys more comfortable”, ABB Review
2/2008 pages 25–29.
during their mid-life overhaul, it often adapting or tailoring converters to a spe- 4 For more on traction converters, see also
makes sense to replace traction convert- cific vehicle is thus most attractive when "A perfect fit" on page 60 of this edition of ABB
ers. The reason for this is the higher pace complete fleets or vehicle classes need Review.

76 ABB review 2|10

Dawn of a new age
NICK BUTCHER, SIMON FELSENSTEIN, SARAH STOETER, CÉCILE FÉLON –
ABB’s electric vehicle Refilling the tank now has new meaning at ABB. As part of its commit-
charging units and ment to building a smarter grid, the company has extended its reach
into a relatively new market, one that is discretely popping up in the
smart grid technolo- parking lots of larger cities – electric vehicle charging. As more govern-
ments are pushing emissions legislation and offering incentives for
gies are supporting the electric car buyers, the demand for fully electric vehicles continues to
vision of a new era of grow, encouraging many carmakers to also expand into this new market.
With this in mind, ABB is developing electric vehicle charging systems
transportation that foster a new vision of transportation.

Dawn of a new age 77

 1 Battery technologies

Smaller

Al/Air Li/Air
800
Li-P, Li-ion
New systems
700
Ref: 18650s; 2.6 Ah Zn/Air
600
Li-ion
500 Li-polymer

Wh/l
Ref: AA alkaline

400
Ni-MH
Li-metal
300
5 mm prismatic cells < 1300 mAh
200
Ni-Cd

100
Lead-acid
0 Lighter
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Established technologies Wh/kg

Emerging technologies

available and affordable than their elec- mobility may finally be within reach for
tric counterparts. the mass market.

Until the 1960s, the focus of the automo- The first generation of electric cars used
bile industry was on cars with internal lead acid batteries. These were charac-

A
lthough it would seem that combustion engines, and progress in terized by high weight and limited perfor-
electric cars have only re- electric vehicle (EV) technology was slow mance, powering only short-range vehi-
cently made their way into at best. But it soon became clear that cles, which were not attractive to the
the market, they have actu- dependency on
ally been around for almost 200 years. gasoline powered
While the first electric cars were devel- cars was necessi- Through recent advances in
oped in the 1830s, it wasn’t until the end tating the depen-
of the century that such vehicles began dency on foreign batteries, the dream of zero-
to receive greater attention. Although
there were also cars powered by steam
crude oil, and the
resulting emissions
emissions mobility may finally
and by internal combustion engines (ie, were demanding be within reach for the mass
gasoline powered), electric cars had the the exploration of
advantage of being quieter, smoother (ie, alternative fuels. market.
little vibration) and less odorous than And so interest in
their competitors. In addition, gasoline electric cars picked
powered cars not only required hand up, and numerous electric car models wider market. Lead acid batteries have
cranking to start but the gears were also were developed over the years. One of made incremental improvements over
extremely difficult to shift, and steam the more famous electric cars of this time the years, but the next generational leap
powered cars required very long startup is the Lunar rover, which in 1971 was the in electric vehicles came with the nickel-
times. Until about the 1920s, electric first manned vehicle to be driven on the metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in the
cars were quite successful. moon. 1990s. These saw dramatic improve-
ments in range and performance, best
But circumstances were changing. In the Dawn of the electric age personified in the highly capable GM
United States, for example, road systems The debate continues as to whether the EV1. Ultimately, however, the verdict
were improving and as a result cities age of electric transport is truly here, or if from car manufacturers was that NiMH
were being connected – this brought this is simply another cycle of boom and batteries, while much better than lead
about the need for cars that could travel bust. The skeptics’ views are not without acid, were still not sufficient to meet mar-
longer distances. In addition, crude oil foundation – electric cars have suffered ket needs for fully electric vehicles in
was discovered in Texas, driving down several such cycles in the past. The limi- terms of price and lifetime.
the price of gasoline, and an electric tations of battery technology – still today
starter was developed, which replaced the critical issue in electric vehicle suc- Within the last 10 years, a new recharge-
the laborious hand crank. And mass pro- cess – have played a leading role. It is able battery has been developed, driven
duction of cars with internal combustion through recent advances in battery tech- by tremendous volume in the consumer
engines made such cars more readily nology that the dream of zero-emissions electronics market. This battery, based

78 ABB review 2|10

2 Demand cycle of the US electricity grid Blending rail and road

Total installed capacity

Peaking plants (ie, reserve power plants or power plant capacity)

Peak load shape

Valley in demand cycle

Seasonal average load shape

The Urban Commuter (UC?), a lightweight

two-seater electric city car developed by
Rinspeed*, a Switzerland-based company,
2 a.m. 4 a.m. 6 a.m. 8 a.m. 10 a.m. noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m. 10 p.m. 12 a.m. was showcased at the 2010 Geneva motor
Time of day show. This fully electric car measures less
Nuclear
than 2.6 m in length and is equipped with a
Renewables and hydropower permanent 3G network connection. The small
Fossil generation electric power plant is not only designed to
Peaking plant contribution Source: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory help prevent congestion in city centers, but it
can also be easily loaded onto custom-built
train carriages for long-distance trips and
integrated into the train’s charging grid. The
driver can take advantage of the train’s
3 Loading of a transformer with smart charging
facilities or the vehicle’s technological
features such as video chat, IP telephone
1200
calls and e-mail while in transit. At the
destination, the car is fully recharged and
1000
Transformer loading (kW or kVA)

ready to go.

800
This visionary project not only develops the
10% EV penetration idea of the electric vehicle, but also of
600
25% EV penetration
sustainable mobility that includes privately
owned cars and public transportation. ABB
400 50% EV penetration
can help make this possible.
75% EV penetration
200
100% EV penetration * See www.rinspeed.com

0
2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m. 10 p.m. 12 a.m. 2 a.m. 4 a.m. 6 a.m.

Time of day

on variants of lithium-ion chemistry, de- concepts, but to electric vehicles to be

livers yet another giant leap ahead from produced in volumes of 100,000+/an-
what was achieved with NiMH. While num within the next one to two years. In
lithium-ion batteries today still store total more than 20 different models of
much less energy per kilogram than oil – plug-in electric vehicles are expected to
and are much more expensive than a enter the market by 2012.
tank of fuel – the extremely high efficien-
cy of electric vehicle drivetrains and the As the Li-ion battery is the critical part of
low cost of electric energy per vehicle- an electric car, fully-automated large-
kilometer mean that electric cars are fi- scale production of dedicated automo-
nally in a position to go head-to-head tive batteries needs to be implemented
with internal combustion rivals. Further to ramp up volume and bring down
major battery innovations are in the pipe- costs. ABB provides turnkey solutions
line, many offering commercial promise including the robotics used in cell manu-
on a surprisingly short timeframe ➔ 1. facturing; module and stack assembly;
Combined with concerns regarding cli- as well as the power electronics to run
mate change and energy security it test cycles of charging and discharging
seems likely that the electric age has at every stage of the manufacturing pro-
finally come to stay – a premise rein- cess.
forced by the announcements of models
coming to market within 2010 by several Electricity as fuel
vehicle manufacturers. These announce- Today, approximately 55 percent of all oil
ments refer not to small production-run produced worldwide is used by the

Dawn of a new age 79

4 CO 2 emissions by power plant and vehicle type 5 World electricity generation by source:
business-as-usual predictions

Type of Hard-coal power plant Gas turbine power plant Renewables/nuclear power plant
power plant 40
800-1,000 g/kWh 1 350-450 g/kWh 5-20 g/km

30

Trillion kWh
20

CO2 emissions of ICEs vs. EVs/PHEVs (well-to-wheel, g/km) 2

10
195
164 15
-29% 117 115 0
-20% -41%
84 -57% 2006 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030
-68% 52
Year
-99% 2
ICE ICE EV PHEV EV PHEV EV PHEV Renewables Nuclear
B-seg. D-seg.
Coal Liquids
Well-to-tank Tank-to-wheel Natural gas

1 EU hard-coal power plant installed today

Source: 2006 data source: Derived from EIA,
2 Consumption of ICE B-segment vehicle: 5.9 l/100 km; ICE D-segment vehicle: 7 l/100 km;
International Energy Annual 2006 (June-December
EV: 13 kWh/100 km; PHEV: 3.0 l and 8 kWh/100 km
2008), www.eia.doe.gov/iea. Projection data source:
Source: BMWI, World Nuclear Association, EU Commission, and Roland Berger EIA, World Energy Projections Plus (2009).

transport sector, totaling almost 50 mil- cle fleet without any increase in name- Emissions and renewables
lion barrels per day. One of the major plate capacity 1, primarily by using over- Electric vehicles are seen as a solution
perceived benefits of e-mobility is the night capacity, which is presently for clean sustainable transportation.
creation of a transport system that is not underutilized. ➔ 2 shows the large valleys They have no tailpipe emissions at all – in
dependent on oil as an energy source in the demand cycle in the US electricity fact they have no tailpipe. But to draw a
and has dramatically lower greenhouse grid where electric vehicles could be fair comparison with the existing oil-fu-
gas emissions. With these goals come charged with no additional peak loading. eled fleet it is necessary to look at the
two critical questions: Where will the en- The generation profile also highlights the whole energy delivery system.
ergy come from, and will the emissions potential issue regarding the electricity
be lower? source; this is discussed in more detail in The effective emissions of an electric car
the next section. depend to a large extent on the emis-
Challenge for the grid sions of the energy source creating the
In the case of electric vehicles, the an- Taking the grid into account is critical to electricity. Electric cars that draw their
swer to the first question is the electrical avoid unnecessary costs. For a local dis- power from an old coal power plant are
tribution trans- only marginally cleaner from a green-
former, "dumb" house-gas perspective than the oil pow-
More than 20 different models charging (ie, charg- ered cars they replace, and may in fact
ing any time of the be worse from a life-cycle perspective,
of plug-in electric vehicles are day) could result in especially when compared with the lat-

expected to enter the market transformer over-

load and a local
est generation of diesel engines. How-
ever, they do still have all the benefits of
by 2012. blackout even if massively reduced local air pollution ➔ 4.
only one house in
10 was using an Thus, from a holistic perspective, a case
grid, though the grid is just a means of electric vehicle. With smart charging, is made for low-emissions electricity
transmission, not generation. Energy is however, the transformer load can be generation. Looking at new generation
created in the wide range of power plants managed within the limits even when ev- technologies, electric vehicles are al-
connected to the grid. For electricity to ery house in the neighborhood makes ready far superior to alternatives even
power cars, both the power stations and the switch away from oil ➔ 3. with combined-cycle gas power plants,
the electrical grid must have the capacity and when powered by truly low-emis-
to transmit the electricity. Of course, every smart charging system sions energy such as nuclear or renew-
needs to be integrated into the distribu- able, they are almost completely green-
Generation management can be ad- tion management system and SCADA house-gas-emission free.
dressed by ensuring that car charging system to ensure interoperability and op-
happens when energy is available, rather timal benefit for both the grid and the The forecast presented in 2006 by the
than randomly, which has the potential to electric cars. Today such grid manage- IEA will not derive the hoped-for benefits
create significant peak loads on the grid. ment systems are to a large extent sup-
With smart charging management, the plied by ABB.
Footnote
existing power plants in many countries 1 Nameplate capacity is the amount of energy
could provide energy for most of a vehi- that a generator is designed to produce.

80 ABB review 2|10

 units will be available in three primary ger (rather than onboard the car) to rap-
6 World electricity generation by source:
ultralow emissions possible types, depending on the application. idly charge the battery. Fast chargers
compatible with existing batteries are al-
100 4.1 5.6 Residential charging ready able to recharge 80 percent of the
6.3
17.5 Home chargers deliver efficient, low- battery in less than 25 minutes. Future
80 13.5
13.7 power vehicle charging that can refill a ultrafast chargers will allow a ”fuel stop”
60
battery during the night, reaching full ca- equivalent for EVs, charging the car in
Percent

19.1 37.7
pacity before morning. Charging over- the shortest possible time. Combined
5.2
40 night ensures that the load on the grid is with the latest battery technologies, this
20.8 low, and the car is refilled economically could allow a full recharge in less than
40.3
20 using low-cost night-rate power. A range five minutes. These chargers will be in-
11.4
4.8
of home chargers are available to suit the stalled in highway rest areas and conve-
0
2008
Year
2020 needs of different homes – indoor, out- nient city refueling points. Grid energy
Non-hydro Coal
door and wall mounted – and all incorpo- management and power quality are pro-
renewables
Biomass
rate the safety systems you can expect vided by state-of-the-art power electron-
Hydropower
Geothermal
of any home appliance. ABB's portfolio ics, smart grid interfacing and integrated
Nuclear
Solar
contains everything that is needed to energy storage to manage the variations
Natural gas
Wind
build safe and efficient home charging in power production. ABB's direct-cur-
Oil devices. rent fast-charging station concept was
Source: EPI and IEA
presented at the International Geneva
Public charging Motor Show 2010, together with Pro-
in reducing greenhouse gas emissions Public chargers are semi-fast charging toscar’s LAMPO2 EV concept. This high-
simply by switching to electric vehicles. solutions that can charge a battery in a power charger is capable of refueling a
To truly realize the benefits of electric few hours while the driver is at work, or more than 100 km range in only 10 min-
transportation, a massive shift toward during everyday activities such as shop- utes.
clean energy sources will be neces- ping or dining out. ABB products will be
sary ➔ 5. The economic and political fea- found in charging poles throughout the
sibility of such a huge shift to clean en- town or city at company parking lots,
ergy remains to be seen, and it will take public buildings, stores and large parking
bold action to achieve targets as ambi- garages.
tious as those indicated in ➔ 6.
These charging poles are built strong
Particularly interesting is the potentially and safe to fit the requirements of a pub-
constructive interaction between electric lic space. In most cases the consumer
vehicles and renewable generation such
as wind and solar. By using smart grid
technologies in combination with the With smart charg-
storage reservoir (ie, the vehicle battery)
to manage the supply and consumption ing management,
of energy, the challenge of both electric
vehicle and renewable energy integra-
the existing power
tion could become much less daunting plants in many Nick Butcher
than either challenge considered in iso- ABB Automation Products,
lation. countries could Power Electronics and MV Drives

The last mile – EV charging points

provide energy for Turgi, Switzerland
[email protected]
One of the often cited benefits of electric most of a vehicle
vehicles is that the cost associated with Simon Felsenstein
their infrastructure is much lower than, fleet without any ABB ISI Smart Grids, E-mobility
for example, hydrogen, because electric-
ity is already widely available. While this
increase in name- Zurich, Switzerland
[email protected]
is certainly a significant benefit, the real-
ity is not quite so simple. The electricity
plate capacity. Sarah Stoeter
still needs to be transferred from where it ABB Review
is (the grid) to where it is needed (the will pay for the electricity used, so the Zurich, Switzerland
batteries onboard every electric vehicle). charging pole will include an authentica- [email protected]
Furthermore, this must be done in a tion and/or payment system.
manner that is fast, convenient, simple, Cécile Félon
cost effective and safe. The solution, Fast and ultrafast charging ABB Power Products
which ABB is working to provide, is the Fast and ultrafast charging systems use Geneva, Switzerland
electric vehicle charging point. These high-power converters within the char- [email protected]

Dawn of a new age 81

Power
from shore
KNUT MARQUART – Port authorities and ship owners have
ABB shore-to-ship power so- been seeking ways to reduce emissions as part of the global
lutions are cutting noise and effort to mitigate climate impact. The increase in interest
results primarily from the environmental benefits of using
greenhouse gas emissions by shore-based electrical power, but there are also economical
benefits as costs related to fossil fuel consumption increase.
providing docked ships with ABB has thus developed optimized shore-to-ship power solu-
shoreside electricity tions for port authorities, ship owners and distribution
companies.

82 ABB review 2|10

 Complete onboard system
including HV shore
connection panel
and cable drum

Substation
(incl. 50/60 Hz converter)

Power outlet Shoreside

6.6 kV / 11 kV transformer
kiosk

HV underground cable (distance 1 – 5 km)

that of the vessel. As the development of electrical connection in the port of Goth-
an onshore power supply can have a sig- enburg, Sweden in 2000.
nificant impact on the local grid, ABB
also offers system studies to assess the A more detailed discussion of ABB’s shore-to-ship
offering will appear in an upcoming issue of ABB
overall effect, and can recommend solu-
Review.
tions to upgrade and strengthen the local
grid and port network to accommodate
shore power connections.

D
uring a 10-hour stay in port,
the diesel engines of a single
cruise ship burn 20 metric ABB provides the
tons of fuel and produce 60
metric tons of CO2. This is equivalent to electrical infra-
the total annual emissions of 25 average-
sized European cars. But these emis-
structure – both
sions can be eliminated by supplying the onshore and on the
ship’s infrastructure with onshore power.
ship – as well as
In addition to reducing CO2, shore-to-
ship power helps ships eliminate sulfur
fully engineered
dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate and integrated sys-
emissions. It also facilitates the reduction
of low-frequency noise and vibrations tems and services.
and allows maintenance of diesel en-
gines while the ship is at berth.
Solutions with single or multiple frequen-
ABB provides the electrical infrastructure cies, regardless of power rating, are
– both onshore and on the ship – as available for single and multiple berth ap-
turnkey solutions, including system com- plications, container terminals and city
ponents such as frequency converters, ports, as well as small footprint indoor
high- and medium-voltage switchgear, concepts that can accommodate all ma-
transformers, and control and protection jor system components.
systems. In addition, ABB offers fully en-
gineered and integrated systems and Onboard the ship, the power solution
services ranging from the main incoming must be fully integrated with the vessel’s
substation to retrofitting the vessel’s electrical and automation system, en-
electrical system to receive shore power. abling seamless power switching be-
tween the ship’s own generation and the
Onshore, this requires the appropriate shore power supply. Knut Marquart
supply of power and includes the need ABB Marketing and Customer Solutions
to adapt the voltage level and frequency A pioneer in this area, ABB successfully Zurich, Switzerland
of electricity from the local grid to match installed the world’s first shore-to-ship [email protected]

Power from shore 83

 3
S – Speed, safety
and savings
ABB’s new ultra-fast earthing switch

DIETMAR GENTSCH, VOLKER GRAFE, HANS-WILLI OTT, this special vacuum device combined with the rapid and
WOLFGANG HAKELBERG, ANDREAS BRANDT – ABB’s well- reliable detection of fault currents and light intensity of a
known and fast acting vacuum interrupter and the world’s new dedicated electronic unit, will ensure all arcs are
fastest limiting and switching device, the Is-limiter, have almost immediately extinguished. In technical terms, this
been in service for decades. Now the technologies from means that system availability and operator safety are
these devices have been cleverly combined to form an greatly enhanced for rated voltages up to 40.5 kV and
arc-fault protection system for medium-voltage switch- rated short-time withstand currents (1s) up to 63 kA. From
gear that operates in the ultra-fast range. As a product, an economic point of view, downtimes and repair costs
the extremely short switching time of less than 1.5 ms of resulting from faults will be drastically reduced.

84 ABB review 2|10

 ronment. From a dielectric point of view,
1 Arc fault duration in electrical systems
the chamber actually constitutes two and the associated consequences.
vacuum gaps separated by a membrane.
One gap contains a contact pin at earth
Using a conventional protection device
potential while the other accommodates – Arc fault duration: 200–300 ms
a fixed contact at high-voltage potential. – Detection by standard relay
Each element also features an integrated – Clearing of arc fault current by the
upstream circuit breaker
ultra-fast micro gas generator (SMGG),
Possible dramatic consequences include
which is comparable in type and func- – Fire/explosion
tionality to the gas generators in automo- – Serious injuries to personnel (depend-
bile airbags ➔ 2. The SMGG drives a pis- ing on the switchgear design)
ton and is designed as a single-shot
Fast-acting protection relay with
piston actuator. The electronic unit, supplementary equipment (eg, Ith-limiter)
based on durable and fast analog tech- − Arc fault duration: 50–100 ms
nology, is phase independent in struc- − Fast detection by special protection relay
ture, and ensures current and light de- − Clearing of arc fault current by the
upstream circuit breaker
tection and reliable tripping within the Limited damage to equipment and
shortest possible time. personnel (depending on the
switchgear design)
When an internal arc fault occurs in a
Ultra-fast earthing switch (UFES)
switchgear system, the electronic unit − Arc fault duration: ≤4ms after detection
detects the fault current (supplied by a − Ultra-fast detection by UFES electronic
current transformer) and the arc light in unit (type QRU)
the compartment (measured by optical − Ultra-fast extinction of the internal arc by
switching of the UFES primary-element
sensors). At almost the same time, the − Final clearing of fault current by the
gas generator is activated. More specifi- upstream circuit-breaker
cally, the gas pressure drives the mov- No damage expected

I
n rare cases, failure inside a switch- able piston. This piston slides into the
gear cubicle due to a defect, an ex- first part of the vacuum chamber and
ceptional service condition or mal- eventually causes the contact pin to pen-
operation may initiate an internal arc, etrate the membrane and engage with
which constitutes a hazard ➔ 1. While the the fixed contact permanently and with-
absolute protection of all personnel is by out bouncing to create a solid metal Technologies from
far the most important concern during short-circuit to earth. The arc fault can
such an event, users would also like to then be short-circuited and extinguished ABB’s vacuum
prevent system components from being
destroyed. ABB’s new internal arc pro-
in less than 4ms after it is first detected.
The entire sequence, illustrated in ➔ 3,
interrupter and
tection system ensures that this is the leads to the safe connection of the pis- I s-limiter have been
case. ton to earth potential via a moving con-
tact system. cleverly combined
The system operates on the principle
that the uncontrolled release of energy Processing that all-important
to form an arc-fault
from an internal arc fault is prevented by information protection system
rapid metallic 3-phase earthing. Charac- The electronic unit has three input chan-
terized by a significantly low impedance, nels that enable continuous monitoring for medium-voltage
this type of connection causes the short- of the instantaneous current. The re-
circuit current of an arc fault to commu- sponse level, the criterion for detection
switchgear that
tate immediately to the fast-acting earth-
ing switch and extinguish the arc.
of a fault current, can be adjusted to suit
a wide variety of protection conditions by
operates in the
means of simple controls. With a low in- ultra-fast range.
The new ultra-fast earthing switch (UFES) put burden of less than 1 VA, the current
contains three complete primary switch- measurement system can simply be
ing elements type U1 (see picture on looped into the secondary wiring of the
page 84) and an electronic unit type QRU existing current protection transformers.
(quick release unit). Each primary switch-
ing element is similar in dimensions In addition to current monitoring, nine
(height 210 mm, diameter 137 mm), optical inputs are available for arc-fault
shape and fastening points to a 24 kV detection. The status of the arc-fault
pin-type insulator, and consists of a two- protection system is indicated by LEDs
part vacuum chamber embedded in and a 7-segment display on the front
epoxy resin to protect it from the envi- panel of the unit ➔ 4. Various floating

S 3 – Speed, safety and savings 85

2 3-D section drawing and sectional view of an UFES primary switching element type U1 4 Electronic unit type QRU1

Epoxy insulator

Fixed contact
Vacuum Ceramic insulator
device Membrane
Moving contact pin

Rupture joint
Piston
Cylinder
Drive
Moving contact system
Micro gas generator (SMGG)

3 Event sequence description

CB CB CB CB CB

CT CT CT CT CT

I k“ I k“ I k“ I k“ I k“
UFES QRU UFES QRU UFES QRU UFES QRU UFES QRU

(optional)

i (t) i (t) i (t) i (t) i (t)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0

Time in ms Time in ms Time in ms Time in ms Time in ms

Internal arc formation. Arc detection by the electro- Tripping signal sent to the Rapid metallic 3-phase Final clearing of the fault
nic device (light and current). UFES primary switching earthing by operation of current by the upstream
elements (optional to the the UFES primary switching circuit breaker.
upstream circuit breaker). elements leading to:
– Interruption of the arc
voltage: Immediate
extinction of the arc.
– Controlled fault current
flow via UFES primary
switching elements to
earth potential.

86 ABB review 2|10

5 UFES primary switching element type U1 6 Demonstration installation showing UFES
primary switching elements on top

Standard IEC
Electrical maximum characteristics (different basic types)
Rated voltage (rms) kV 40.5
Rated power frequency withstand voltage (rms) kV 85 / 95
Rated lightning impulse withstand voltage (peak) kV 170 / (200)
Rated frequency Hz 50 / 60
Rated short-time withstand current (rms) kA 50 / (63)
Rated peak withstand current kA 170
Rated duration of short-circuit s 3 / (1)
Rated short-circuit making current kA 170

Mechanical characteristics
Dimension (diameter x height) mm ~ 137 x 210
Closing time ms < 1.6
Contact bounce duration ms 0

Lifetime
Mechanical life operations 1
Number of short-circuit operations 1
Shelf life years 30
Micro gas generator years 15

criteria for the switchgear can be simu- poorly accessible switchgear installation
ABB’s system is lated and checked by the user, and the rooms.
corresponding trips displayed but not
an active internal transmitted to the SMGG’s. The UFES primary switching elements

arc fault protection In combination with the TVOC light de-

can be installed in the switchgear cable
connection compartments or simply in
solution for medi- tection system, up to 54 compartments each separate busbar section to ensure
in a switchgear system (three compart- the entire system is covered. The UFES
um-voltage switch- ments per panel) can be monitored using will be available as a complete unit in a
one electronic unit. The TVOC extension type-tested ABB service box for simple
gear systems, modules, each of which contains nine installation in existing switchgear sys-
which greatly optical inputs, can be directly connected tems ➔ 6 and later as a “loose device”
to the five interfaces provided. Because (ie, the electronic unit and three primary
increases both detection of an arc fault by these mod- switching elements).
ules is also monitored by the electronic
system availability unit, at least 18 panels in a switchgear
and personnel system are provided with active protec-
tion. As each compartment is individually
safety. monitored, the location of the fault can
be easily determined.

contacts are provided as interfaces to The power to protect

other units. These can be used: ABB’s system, suitable for rated voltages
− To transmit the status of the electron- up to 40.5 kV and rated short-time with-
ics to a remote control room stand currents up to 63 kA (1s) ➔ 5, is an Dietmar Gentsch
− To send commands to a circuit active internal arc fault protection solu- Volker Grafe
breaker feeding into the arc fault tion for new internal arc classified medi- Hans-Willi Ott
− As an interlock to block the reclosing um-voltage switchgear as well as for Wolfgang Hakelberg
of a circuit breaker directly after existing older generation switchgear. It Andreas Brandt
tripping. helps to avoid serious damage to the ABB Power Products
switchgear, the equipment and the direct Ratingen, Germany
Together with the electronic watchdog environment. Therefore, it greatly in- [email protected]
function, the functional capability of the creases both system availibilty and per- [email protected]
SMGG-igniter is also continuously moni- sonnel safety in the event of internal arc [email protected]
tored. The electronic unit can be switched fault. Furthermore it enables the minimi- [email protected]
to test mode in which all the response zation of pressure relief arrangements in [email protected]

S 3 – Speed, safety and savings 87

Historical perspective

Electrifying
history
A long tradition in electric railway engineering
NORBERT LANG – It may come as a surprise that – long before the
emergence of globalization – technical developments in different
countries of the western world occurred largely in parallel, despite differ-
ences in conditions and mentalities. This is definitely true for the
development of railway electrification and vehicles. Depending on
whether a country had rich coal deposits or huge hydropower resourc-
es, the reasons to electrify railways would have differed. Even so, many
notable innovations occurred simultaneously yet independently.

88 ABB review 2|10

 sons, Charles E. L. and Sidney Brown
1 Early milestones
also worked on equipment for electric lo-
comotives (It was Charles Brown who
– 1890: A predecessor company of ABB
later cofounded BBC.) Together the two Sécheron in Geneva supplies the first
sons designed the first mainline electric electric tramcars in France to the city of
locomotive for the 40 km Burgdorf–Thun Clermont-Ferrand.
– 1892: The world’s first electric rack railway
railway (picture on page 88). This was a
is installed at the Mont-Salève near
freight locomotive with two fixed speeds Geneva, using 500 V DC.
(17.5 and 35 km/h) powered by 40 Hz – 1894: Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO)
three-phase AC. The transmission used supplies the first electric tramcars to
Zurich.
straight-cut gears and had to be shifted
– 1896: BBC builds electric tramcars for the
during standstill. Two large induction mo- Swiss city of Lugano. The Swedish ABB
tors drove the two axles via a jackshaft predecessor company ASEA, founded in
and coupling rods. The overhead line 1883, starts its electric traction business
with tramcars.
voltage was limited to a maximum of
– 1898: BBC equips the Stansstaad–Engel-
750 V by law. berg and Zermatt–Gornergrat mountain
railways as well as the Jungfraubahn to
In 1903, ABB Sécheron’s predecessor the summit of the Jungfraujoch at 3,500 m
company CIEM (Compagnie de l’Industrie above sea level.
– 1901: ASEA supplies electrified tramcars
Electrique et Mécanique) electrified the to the city of Stockholm.
narrow-gauge railway from St-Georges-
de-Commiers to La Mure in France using
direct current at an exceptionally high
voltage (for the time) of 2,400 V using a track could not be approved due to the
double overhead contact wire system. high voltage, the contact wire was car-
Almost simultaneously yet independently, ried laterally on wooden poles. As agreed
Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) and before the commencement of the trial,

F
or most manufacturers, the de- BBC each initiated a landmark electrifi- the overhead wire was removed after its
velopment of electrification cation project on the Swiss Federal Rail- completion and the line reverted to steam
technology started with tram- way (SBB) network.
ways. In 1890, a predecessor of
ABB's business in Sécheron, Geneva, MFO: Single-phase alternating The electric trac-
supplied France’s first electric tramcars current
to Clermont-Ferrand ➔ 1. These were Between 1905 and 1909, MFO tested a tion vehicle in par-
soon followed by the world’s first electri-
cally operated mountain rack railways. In
single-phase 15 kV/15 Hz electrification
on a section of the former Swiss “Natio-
ticular, in a way the
1898 another ABB predecessor, BBC, nalbahn” railway between Zurich-See- most harmonic and
equipped several mountain railways, in- bach and Wettingen (now part of the Zu-
cluding the world-famous Jungfraubahn rich suburban network). The first most beautiful
climbing to the 3,500 m high Jungfrau- locomotive used was equipped with a ro-
joch, using a 40 Hz (later 50 Hz) three- tary converter and DC traction mo-
means of electrical
phase system. tors ➔ 3. In 1905, a second locomotive and mechanical
was added ➔ 4. This used the same axle
Although local transport systems and arrangement (B’B’), but the bogies both engineering, con-
mountain railways have also undergone had a 180 kW single-phase series-wound
huge technical developments since the motor fed directly from the transformer’s
sistently presents
early years, this article will focus on de-
velopments on standard-gauge mainline
tap changer. (Tap-changer control was in
later years to become the standard con-
new and very inter-
railways. trol method for AC locomotives and was esting design prob-
not to be displaced until the advent of
Electrification with different power power electronics.) The axles were driven lems to be solved.
-- Karl Sachs
systems via a speed-reduction gear, jackshaft and
It is a little known fact that it was Charles coupling rods. The maximum speed was
Brown Sr. (1827–1905), whose name 60 km/h. The motors used salient stator operation (it was finally electrified in
lives on as one of the B’s in ABB, who poles and phase-shifted field commuta- 1942). However, experiences gained were
founded SLM ➔ 2 in 1871. The company tion. This locomotive performed so well to have far-reaching consequences.
produced steam and mountain railway that the earlier locomotive was adapted
locomotives and for many decades was accordingly. Between December 1907 BBC: Electric power for the
to supply the mechanical part (ie, body, and 1909 all regular trains on this line Simplon tunnel
frame and running gear) of practically all were electrically hauled. Because over- In late 1905, BBC decided to electrify (at
Swiss electric locomotives. Brown’s two head contact wires centered above the its own cost and risk) the 20 km single-

Electrifying history 89
3 MFO experimental locomotive no. 1 with rotary converter and 4 MFO experimental locomotive no. 2 with single-phase traction
DC traction motors motors

2 Abbreviations of railway and manufacturing companies

Walter Boveri
ASEA Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget, Västeras, Sweden (1983–1987).
In 1988, ASEA merged with BBC to form ABB.
objected to the
BBC Brown, Boveri & Cie. AG, Baden, Switzerland (1891–1987) operation of utility
BLS Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon Railway, Spiez, Switzerland
DB Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways) and railway grids
MFO
ÖBB
Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon AG (1876–1967). Acquired by BBC.
Österreichische Bundesbahnen (Austrian Federal Railways)
at different fre-
SAAS Société Anonyme des Ateliers de Sécheron, Geneva, Switzerland (1918–1969).
Acquired by BBC.
quencies. Among
SBB Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (Swiss Federal Railways) others, his inter-
SLM Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik, Winterthur, Switzerland (Swiss Locomotive
and Machine Works, est. 1871). Acquired by Adtranz in 1998. vention led to the
SJ Statens Järnvägar (Swedish State Railways, became a public limited company in 2001)
compromise of
track Simplon tunnel under the Alps be- Until all locomotives were completed,
using 16 2/3 Hz for
tween Brig (Switzerland) and Iselle (Italy), three locomotives of a similar design railways.
which was then approaching completion. were rented from the Valtelina railway.
An important argument for electrification
was the risk that carbon monoxide from At the time it was already realized that
steam locomotives could present to pas- asynchronous AC motors offered several
sengers should a train break down in the advantages for traction applications, in-
long tunnel. However, only six months cluding robustness and simpler mainte-
remained until the tunnel’s inauguration. nance due to the absence of a commu-
Electrification was carried out using a tator. Disadvantages, however, included
three-phase supply at 16 2/3 Hz / 3 kV fed the coarse speed graduation resulting
from two dedicated power stations lo- from pole switching and the double-wire
cated at either end of the tunnel. The overhead line of the three-phase supply,
same power system was also adopted which added to the complexity of turn-
on the Valtelina railway in Northern Italy, outs. Three-phase motors were thus to
the Brenner and the Giovi lines as well as remain relatively rare in traction applica-
the line along the Italian Riviera. The ini- tions until recent times when power elec-
tial fleet comprised two locomotives of tronic converters were able to alleviate
type Ae 3/5 (1’C 1’) ➔ 5 and two Ae 4/4 their shortcomings without compromis-
(0-D-0), all using induction motors. ing their strengths.
Speed was controlled using switchable
stator poles. The low-mounted low- In 1908, SBB took over this installation.
speed motors drove the axles via multi- In 1919 two further locomotives were
part coupling rods. The locomotives had added and the electrification extended to
an hourly rating of 780 kW and 1,200 kW Sion. A second tunnel bore was com-
respectively and a top speed of 75 km/h. pleted in 1921. The three-phase era on

90 ABB review 2|10

5 BBC three-phase AC locomotive of the Simplon tunnel line, 1906 6 Determining the optimal electrification
system

In 1904 the “Schweizerische Studienkommis-

sion für den elektrischen Bahnbetrieb” (Swiss
Study Commission for Electric Railway
Operation) was formed to “study and clarify
the technical and financial prerequisites for
the introduction of an electric service on
Swiss railway lines.” Different railway
electrification systems were investigated in
detailed studies, taking into account recent
experience. Results and findings were
published on a regular basis. In 1912, the
commission concluded that a single-phase
current system using an overhead line with
15 kV and approximately 15 Hz was the
preferable system for the electrification of
Swiss main lines.

the Simplon ended in 1930 when the line 6/8 (1’Co)(Co1’) locomotives using the have been able to withstand the tough
was converted to the standard single- proven single-axle quill drive to BLS. operating conditions.
phase 15 kV / 16 2/3 Hz ➔ 6. These pulled heavy passenger and goods
trains until well after the second world The electrification of the Gotthard line
Electrification of the Lötschberg war. progressed so rapidly that there was vir-
railway tually no time to adequately test the trial
With gradients of 2.2 to 2.7 percent and Electric operation on the Gotthard locomotives. Orders had to be placed
curve radii of 300 m, the railway from line quickly. BBC/SLM supplied 40 passen-
Thun via Spiez to Brig operated by BLS In view of the oppressive shortage of ger train locomotives (1’B)(B1’), and
and completed in 1913 has a distinct coal during the first world war, in 1916 MFO/SLM supplied 50 freight locomo-
mountain railway character. From an ear- SBB decided to electrify the Gotthard tives (1’C)(C1’). Both types were
ly stage, it was intended to operate the railway using the power system that had equipped with four frame-mounted mo-
twin-track Lötschberg tunnel electrically. already proven itself on the Lötschberg tors driving the axles via a jackshaft and
As early as 1910, BLS decided in favor of line. SBB asked the Swiss machine and coupling rods. With an hourly rating of
the 15 kV / 15 Hz system of the Seebach– electrical industry to provide prototype 1,500 and 1,800 kW and top speeds of
locomotives in 75 and 65 km/h respectively, these loco-
view of later win- motives were able to fulfill expectations
AC motors offered several ning orders. To en- and handle traffic for a long time to come.
sure the line’s In fact, these Gotthard locomotives be-
advantages for traction appli- power supply, the came iconic among Swiss trains. This is

cations, including robustness construction

three
of
high-pres-
particularly true for the 20 m long freight
version with articulated frames, the so-
and simpler maintenance sure hydrostorage called Crocodiles ➔ 8, which continued
power plants (Am- in service for nearly 60 years. This type
due to the absence of a steg, Ritom and has been copied in various forms in dif-

commutator. Barberine)
commenced
was
im-
ferent countries, and even today it is still
a “must” on every presentable model
mediately. railway.
Wettingen trial. The frequency was later
increased to 16 2/3 Hz. The BLS thus BBC’s cofounder Walter Boveri vehe- Contributions by Sécheron
paved the way not only for the later elec- mently objected to the operation of na- In 1921/22 ABB’s predecessor company,
trification of the Gotthard railway but also tional utility and railway grids at different Sécheron, supplied six Be 4/7 locomo-
for the electrification of railways in Ger- frequencies. Among others, his interven- tives (1’Bo 1’) (Bo’) for the Gotthard rail-
many, Austria and Sweden, all of which tion led to the compromise of using way. They were equipped with four indi-
adopted this system. 16 2/3 Hz (= 50 Hz / 3) for railways. vidually driven axles with Westinghouse
quill drives ➔ 9. Despite their good run-
In 1910 MFO and SLM jointly supplied a Boveri also suggested equipping loco- ning characteristics, no further units were
1,250 kW prototype locomotive to BLS motives with mercury-arc rectifiers, a ordered as SBB was initially wary of the
with a C-C axle arrangement ➔ 7. Follow- technology that had already proven itself single-axle drive. For its less mountain-
ing successful trials, BLS ordered several in industrial applications. However, the ous routes, SBB ordered 26 Ae 3/5
Be 5/7 (1’E1’) 1,800 kW locomotives, time was not yet ripe for converter tech- (1’Co 1’) passenger locomotives with an
the first of which was delivered in 1913. nology on railway vehicles as the volumi- identical quill drive and a top speed of
In 1930, SAAS supplied the first of six Ae nous mercury containers would hardly 90 km/h. Weighing 81 t, these machines

Electrifying history 91
7 Trial locomotive for the Lötschberg railway, 1910 8 SBB Crocodile Ce 6/8 built by MFO for goods transport on the
Gotthard line

were considerably lighter than other tween Stockholm and Gothenburg was spite a well-known Swiss design critic
types. Ten similar units with a 2’Co 1’ electrified, with ASEA supplying the claiming that these machines had a
wheel arrangement (Ae 3/6 III) followed 1,200 kW 1’C1’locomotives. “monkey face,” they remained a charac-
later. These three types were generally teristic feature on SBB lines for several
referred to as Sécheron machines and Successful single-axle drive decades. Some continued in service until
were mainly used in western Switzerland. After commissioning the electric service the 1990s.
The last were still in operation in the ear- on the Gotthard line, SBB extended its
ly 1980s when they were mostly to be railway electrification onto the plains and Post-war trends: bogie locomotives
found on the car transporter trains of the into the Jura mountains. By 1927, con- Most locomotives described so far had
Gotthard and Lötschberg tunnels. tinuous electric operation was possible combinations of carrying axles and pow-
from Lake Constance in the east to Lake ered axles, a feature inherited from steam
ASEA’s activities in the railway sector Geneva in the west. BBC/SLM devel- locomotive design. In 1944, however,
Similarly to Switzerland, electrification of oped the Ae 3/6 II (2’Co1’) passenger BBC/SLM broke with this tradition and
the Swedish state railways started before locomotives that incorporated a new supplied BLS with the first Ae 4/4
the first world war. From 1911 until 1914, single-axle drive. This drive concept, (Bo’Bo’) high-performance bogie loco-
the 120 km long so-called Malmbanan or named after its inventor Buchli, consist- motives with all axles powered. These
“ore line” was electrified. Its main pur- ed of a double-
pose was to transport magnetite ore lever universal-joint
from mines in Kiruna to the port of Narvik arrangement in a The so-called Crocodile
(Norway), a port that remains ice-free all single plane that
year due to the Gulf Stream. Sweden has acted between the locomotives became iconic
huge hydropower resources. The Porjus frame-mounted
hydropower plant supplies the power for motor and the
among Swiss trains.
this railway, which is operated with sin- sprung driving
gle-phase 15 kV at 16 2/3 Hz (initially axle ➔ 10. 114 locomotives of this type 3,000 kW machines could reach a top
15 Hz). By 1920, the electrification had entered service on SBB. The design speed of 120 km/h. From then, on, virtu-
been extended via Gellivare to Lulea on proved so satisfactory that the initial ally all railway companies opted for bogie
the Gulf of Bothnia. The Norwegian sec- speed limit of 90 km/h could be raised to locomotives. In 1946, SBB received the
tion of the line was electrified in 1923. 110 km/h. The type was a huge success first of 32 Re 4/4 I light express locomo-
The mountains traversed are of medium for Swiss industry and led to export or- tives, followed by 174 of the much more
height, and the gradients of 1.0 to 1.2 ders and license agreements for similar powerful Re 4/4 II for express trains. The
percent are considerably lower than locomotives for Germany, Czechoslova- latter are still in operation today. With a
those on Swiss mountain railways. How- kia, France, Spain and Japan. In total, weight of 81 t and a rating of 4,000 kW
ever, the heavy ore trains placed high de- some 1,000 rail vehicles with Buchli they can reach 140 km/h.
mands on the locomotives. ASEA sup- drives must have been built.
plied the electrical equipment for 12 ASEA also turned to the development of
1,200 kW articulated locomotives (1’C) Longer and heavier international trains bogie locomotives. The first Bo’Bo’ type
(C1’) with side-rod drive, as well as for on the Gotthard and Simplon lines soon Ra was introduced in 1955 ➔ 11. With its
two similar 600 kW express locomotives demanded more powerful locomotives. beaded side panels, the “porthole” win-
(2’ B 2’). 10,650 kW four-axle locomo- Developed from the type described dows and its round “baby face” the ma-
tives for express goods services were above and using the same BBC Buchli chine reflected American design trends.
later added, and mainly operated in pairs. drive, 127 Ae 4/7 (2’Do1’) locomotives Like its Swiss counterparts, it was
In 1925 the 460 km long SJ mainline be- were built between 1927 and 1934. De- equipped with two traction motors per

92 ABB review 2|10

9 Sécheron type single-axle quill drive 10 Buchli single-axle drive manufactured by
(Sécheron) BBC (BBC 12395)

The springing helped decouple the movement The motor shaft attached to the upper cog and
of the axle from that of the motor, reducing the axle to the lower.
track wear.

bogie. Weighing only 60 t, it was capable state components soon found their way and the Sihltal railways (Switzerland), the
of a top speed of 150 km/h. These loco- into locomotives. Between 1965 and Re 450 and Re 460 of SBB and the
motives proved highly satisfactory and 1983, BLS purchased 35 Re 4/4, series Re 465 of BLS.
remained in service until the 1980s. In 161 locomotives ➔ 12. Instead of using
1962, the first type Rb rectifier locomo- single-phase AC, the traction motors High-speed trains
tives were introduced, followed by the were fed with half-wave rectified and re- Between 1989 and 1992, German rail-
type Rc thyristor locomotives in 1967. actor-smoothed DC. The oil-cooled sol- ways (DB) commissioned 60 ICE (Inter-
The latter were also supplied to Austria id-state diode rectifier was fed from the city Express) trains, which were based
(type 1043) and the United States (type transformer tap changer. These locomo-
AEM-7, built under license by General tives had two traction motors per bogie,
Motors). connected in parallel to reduce the risk From a design per-
of slippage on steep inclines. The loco-
From rectifier to converter technology motives have an hourly rating of nearly spective, a single-
From a design perspective, a single-
phase AC motor is largely identical to a
5 MW and have proven themselves ex-
tremely well. One machine was modified
phase AC motor
DC motor. However, speed or power with thyristor-based converters and suc- is largely identical
control is simpler with DC. While some cessfully tested on the Austrian Semmer-
countries chose to electrify their mainline ing line. As a result, ÖBB ordered 216 to a DC motor.
networks with DC using a voltage of
1,500 or 3,000 V, others sought to ac-
locomotives of a similar design (type
1044) from ABB in Vienna.
However, speed or
quire locomotives with onboard rectifiers power control is
converting the AC supply to DC. One of The combination of frequency converters
the downsides of DC electrification is and asynchronous motors proved to be simpler with DC.
that the line voltage must be relatively particularly advantageous. It allowed a
low as transformers cannot be used. This largely uniform drive concept to be real- on the technology of the E120. ABB was
leads to higher conduction losses requir- ized that was essentially independent of involved in their development. The trains
ing more frequent substations. Manufac- the type of power supplied by the con- consisted of two power cars with con-
turers thus long sought ways of combin- tact wire. This enabled some standard- verter-controlled three-phase induction
ing DC traction with AC electrification ization and also made it easier to build motors and 11 to 14 intermediate pas-
(see also MFO’s first Seebach-Wettingen locomotives able to work under different senger cars. During a trial run on the
locomotive described above). It was not voltages and frequencies for international newly completed high-speed line be-
until vacuum-based singe-anode mercu- trains. Furthermore, the use of robust tween Hamburg and Frankfurt, one of
ry tubes (so-called ignitrons or excitrons) three-phase induction motors saved on these trains reached a speed of
were developed that rectifier locomotives maintenance due to the absence of com- 280 km/h.
were built in large numbers (mostly in the mutators while also offering a higher
United States and some Eastern Bloc power density, meaning motors could In 1990, ABB supplied the first of 20
countries). either be made smaller or more powerful. X2000 tilting high-speed trains to SJ for
Examples of BBC and ABB locomotives express service between Stockholm and
The semiconductor revolution in elec- using this arrangement are the E120 of Gothenburg. They use GTO converters
tronics was to change this, and solid- DB, the Re 4/4 of Bodensee-Toggenburg and induction motors and can reach

Electrifying history 93
11 ASEA type Ra bogie locomotive of the Swedish State Railways 12 Re 4/4, series 161 rectifier locomotive of BLS, 1965

1 2

3 3

d = 1,300

7,800
2,200 2,900 4,900 2,900 2,200

15,100

200 km/h. The type is now also used on Since 2002 ABB has maintained a close
other lines in Sweden, enabling reduc- strategic cooperation with Stadler Rail.
tions in journey times of up to 30 per- Stadler is an internationally operating
cent. rolling stock manufacturer that emerged
from a small Swiss company, which orig-
Streamlining the railway business inally produced diesel and battery-elec-
Arguably, no other products of the ma- tric tractors for works railways and in-
chine or electrical industry were consid- dustrial lines. The company is now an
ered as prestigious by the general public important international supplier of multi-
as railway vehicles, and although exports ple unit passenger trains. In recent years
did occur, administrations generally pre- ABB has developed new components for
ferred to buy from domestic suppliers. different overhead line voltages and fre-
However, this paradigm began to change quencies as well as for diesel-electric
in the late 1980s and 1990s. Notably, the traction applications. ABB supplies the
prefabrication of parts allowed consider- transformers, traction converters, on-
able reductions of lead times. Further- board power supply systems and battery
more, such prefabricated subassemblies chargers used on Stadler trains. Starting
permit final assembly to be carried out in 2011, 50 new Stadler double deck
virtually anywhere. For the industry, this trains will enter service on SBB. Norbert Lang
shift – combined with market liberaliza- Archivist
tion – resulted in a transition from com- Today, ABB also has strategic agree- ABB Switzerland
plete manufacturing for a local market to ments with other rolling stock manufac- [email protected]
component delivery for a global market. turers and supplies strategic compo-
nents to Alstom, Siemens and
Further reading
The ABB railway business today Bombardier. Although the company no – Bugli, Ralph W. (ed.). (1983) Electrifying Experi-
Following the merger of ASEA and BBC longer operates as a manufacturer of ence. A Brief Account of The ASEA Group of
to form ABB, the respective transporta- complete trains, ABB’s involvement with Sweden 1883–1983.
– Haut, F. J. G. (1972) Die Geschichte der elek-
tion system businesses were formed into and commitment to railways remains
trischen Triebfahrzeuge. Vol. 1.
an independent company within the ABB strong. – Huber-Stockar, E. (1928) Die Elektrifikation der
Group. In 1996, ABB and Daimler Benz Schweizer Bundesbahnen.
merged their railway activities under the – Machefert-Tassinn, et al. (1980) Histoire de la
traction electrique, 2 vols.
name ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation
– Sachs, K. (1973) Elektrische Triebfahrzeuge.
(Adtranz). Adtranz also acquired the 3 vols.
Swiss companies SLM and Schindler – Schneeberger, H. (1995) Die elektrischen und
Waggon in 1998. In 1999 ABB sold its Dieseltriebfahrzeuge der SBB, Vol. I: Baujahre
1904–1955.
stake in Adtranz to DaimlerChrysler
– Teich, W. (1987) BBC-Drehstrom-Antriebstechnik
which later sold its railway sector to fur Schienenfahrzeuge, Mannheim.
Bombardier. Thus today, ABB no longer – (1988-2010) ABB Review.
builds complete locomotives, but contin- – (1924–1987) ASEA Journal (engl. ed.).
– (1914–1987) BBC Mitteilungen
ues to supply different high-performance
– (1928–1943, 1950–1987) BBC Nachrichten
components for demanding traction ap- – (1921–1970) Bulletin Oerlikon.
plications. – (1929–1972) Bulletin Secheron

94 ABB review 2|10

Editorial Board

Peter Terwiesch
Chief Technology Officer
Group R&D and Technology

Clarissa Haller
Head of Corporate Communications

Ron Popper
Manager of Sustainability Affairs

Axel Kuhr
Head of Group Account Management

Friedrich Pinnekamp
Vice President, Corporate Strategy

Andreas Moglestue
Chief Editor, ABB Review
[email protected]

Publisher
ABB Review is published by ABB Group
R&D and Technology.

ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.

ABB Review/REV
CH-8050 Zürich
Switzerland
Preview 3|10

ABB Review is published four times a year in

English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and
Russian. ABB Review is free of charge to those
with an interest in ABB’s technology and objectives.
Green perspectives
For a sub scription, please contact your nearest
ABB representative or subscribe online at
www.abb.com/abbreview
ABB has numerous technologies that enable production and
Partial reprints or reproductions are permitted processes to become more efficient, both in terms of energy
subject to full acknowledgement. Complete reprints usage and of productivity. The company’s variable-speed drives,
require the publisher’s written consent.
for example, permit huge energy savings to be made in com-
Publisher and copyright ©2010 parison to the more traditional method of using throttling
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.
elements to control speed. Not only is less energy input required
Zürich/Switzerland
to do the same work (environmental benefits) but costs are also
Printer saved thanks to short pay-back times. Typical applications for
Vorarlberger Verlagsanstalt GmbH
AT-6850 Dornbirn/Austria
such variable-speed drives include fans, pumps, belts and
conveyors. They can also be found in more unorthodox situa-
Layout tions: for example powering the retractable roof of the Dallas
DAVILLA Werbeagentur GmbH
AT-6900 Bregenz/Austria Cowboy’s football stadium.

Disclaimer
The information contained herein reflects the views
Variable speed drives are just one application of ABB’s expertise
of the authors and is for informational purposes in power electronics. Power electronics permit current and
only. Readers should not act upon the information voltage to be modified to virtually any desired waveform and
contained herein without seeking professional
advice. We make publications available with the frequency. Issue 3/2010 of ABB Review will look at some of
understanding that the authors are not rendering these applications, and also the components at the heart of
technical or other professional advice or opinions
power electronics: solid state switching devices.
on specific facts or matters and assume no
liability whatsoever in connection with their use. The
companies of the ABB Group do not make any Continuing with the topic of saving energy and boosting
warranty or guarantee, or promise, expressed or
implied, concerning the content or accuracy of the
productivity, the journal will also look at a building of the future,
views expressed herein. the latest developments in wind energy and a way to reduce
emissions from ship’s engines.
ISSN: 1013-3119

www.abb.com/abbreview

Preview 95
Powering the railways. Efficient and reliable
solutions for sustainable mobility.

As the world’s leading company for energy and automation technology, ABB plays a
vital role in the efficient and safe operation of railway public transportation systems
and therefore also the sustainable care of the environment. Our reliable products can
be found wherever railway services are set in motion by means of electrical energy,
for example with energy-efficient on-board traction power supplies, infrastructure
systems and network management solutions. www.abb.com/railway

INNOTRANS
Berlin, 21. – 24. September 2010
Halls 2.2 & 26, Stands 207 & 226