THE NEXT GENERATION
Simon Scott, global sector director for rail at engineering and consulting giant Ricardo, discusses developments in rail technology.
T
he Intelligent City Hub debate at the University of Birmingham brought
together a number of thinkers in the trans- port sector to discuss integrating different modes of travel, attracting more people to public transport and the role of interchang- es in the cities of the future. Also vital to the future are the next generation of engineers who will build, maintain, operate and inno- vate across the sector.
Simon Scott, global sector director for rail at Ricardo, speaking ahead of the Rail Champions Intelligent City Hub event, told RTM: “We need to take a personal leader- ship in this area. It is all too easy to point the finger at central government, but I of- ten see us rail professionals in the media, in conversations and at conferences being very cynical about our own industry.”
Positivity
He said: “We have achieved some great rail moments recently, such as the develop- ment of St Pancras and HS1, the 92% reli- ability level of national rail, and the three million passengers handled by LUL every day. The industry is working even closer together through organisations such as TSLG, RIA, and RSSB as well as Rail Cham- pions. We should look to leverage this to get campaigns going that sell the exciting challenges of the rail industry to school pu- pils. I will never forget a lecture Roger Ford gave when I was starting out in my career about the fact that trains run on the rails on a diameter of a 5p piece. Whether factu- ally correct or not, it got my attention and excitement.”
What about the role of his own firm in the industry?
He said: “Ricardo has been in rail sporadi- cally throughout its 96 year history; in the last three years we have taken a strategy to bring our diesel propulsion, transmission and ITS knowledge from our core automo- tive market into other sectors. From dis- cussing this with rail clients and using my own knowledge, I believe that the technolo- gy, process and knowledge we have has the potential to bring proven and effective in- novation to rail. Our goal is to bring this to the market to solve emissions challenges, reduce whole life costs, and increase capac-
84 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 11
ity with proven value driven solutions.” A rail champion
Scott added: “The transport sector ac- counts for around 25% of global carbon dioxide emissions, which are, as we know, linked to climate change. Ricardo has been working with many leading automakers and locomotive manufacturers to examine and develop hybrid solutions for the global transport sector. With the advent of new technology becoming available to build lighter, more efficient running cars, trains and trams, we recognise the benefits of sustainable design and want to see further investment in research and development of Intelligent City Hubs and clean energy so- lutions over the next few decades.”
Scott explained that some of his company’s work in the automotive sector has direct relevance to rail technology.
He said: “Ricardo invests heavily in re- search and development, and is currently working on increasing capacity of existing road infrastructure using ITS concepts. The technology we are developing is equal- ly applicable to the rail sector. For example, we are already moving to distributed power multiple units, and it’s not a great jump to single units except for the complications of coupling. We have automotive technology for road trains that can potentially offer a robust, safe and reliable means of virtual coupling.
“Once you have single units, the stopping distances become smaller and therefore the control pattern becomes far more dense. In short, we have to rethink some of the basic premises of rail if we are to take the capac- ity leaps that are currently being sought; that requires research now so that we can deliver the necessary enabling product and service innovations for the future.”
New technology
What does he consider to be the key areas of development in sustainable rail technol- ogy at the moment?
“We have combustion chamber technol- ogy that provides 3b compliant engines without after-treatment for off-highway
range engines. We are currently investigat- ing whether up-scaling this to rail engine sizes could eliminate or significantly re- duce the cost of after treatment in DEMU applications. Our Kinergy storage system is energy dense, small and light relative to current flywheel applications. We have achieved 1MJ in an 18” diameter system but are confident that the same flywheel can be engineered for a capacity in excess of 2MJ. Its patented electromagnetic cou- pling creates a step-down ratio of up to 10:1 and it is completely sealed, resulting in zero maintenance for the unit. Our die- sel technology expertise applied to exist- ing engines can reduce fuel consumption, extending the useful life of the engine and reducing fuel bills.”
The main technological advancements are in signalling and power, he explained: “There are clear changes with ERTMS and its full application, and the trend towards electrification is still moving; perhaps questioned slightly by the Japan tsunami situation. We still think there is a need for an independently power sourced rail ve- hicle, so that where the economic case for OHLE cannot be supported, we have a sus- tainable alternative solution.”
Information revolution
Scott told RTM that although sustainabil- ity is being taken fully into account in up- coming major infrastructure projects like HS2 and ongoing electrification, informa- tion integration is the ‘missing link’.
He said: “Whilst integration into the lo- cal transportation system is taken into ac- count, the information integration is less so. We think there are great savings to be made with a UK transport information platform. It’s not really happened yet due to the fragmentary na- ture of our infrastruc- ture ownership. Rail Champions is a great start to bringing the right people together to achieve such a ho- listic approach.”
Simon Scott FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit
rail-champions.com or
www.ricardo.com
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