In brief
APAN’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation says it has installed the world’s first auxiliary power supply system incorporating silicon carbide power modules in a series-production train.
The modules are currently
being fitted to type 1000 cars being built for Tokyo Metro’s Ginza Line. Testing is expected to start soon prior to the trains entering service in June.
Mitsubishi Electric says by incorporating silicon carbide power modules in auxiliary power supply systems it is
G
ERMAN Rail (DB) carried a record number of passengers on its domestic services in Germany last year, with ridership reaching 49 million and the total distance travelled increasing by 4% to 82.4 billion passenger-km. DB notes that domestic airlines witnessed a 3.8% decline in passenger numbers during 2012, while new car registrations also fell by 2.9%. The picture was less rosy
Mitsubishi Electric develops first silicon carbide power modules J
able reduce power loss by 30% and cut transformer noise by 4dB due to a 35% improvement in the distortion rate of output voltage waveforms.
main specifications of the new system are a rated voltage of 600V dc, a two-level voltage- type pulse-width modulation (PWM) inverter, an output voltage of 140kVA, and natural air cooling. The new auxiliary
power supply systems use technologies developed for silicon carbide inverters which include high-voltage
Compared with
using silicon, silicon carbide enables the auxiliary power supply system to be 20% smaller and 15% lighter. The
Record ridership and rising revenues for DB
for DB’s railfreight business, as Europe’s continuing economic problems pegged volumes back to 105.9 billion tonne-km, a 5.4% decline compared with 2011. Despite this, revenues rose
by ƒ1.4bn (3.7%) to ƒ39.3bn, while adjusted Ebit increased by ƒ399m (17.3%) to ƒ2.7bn. Net capital expenditure grew by 35.7%, or ƒ918m, to ƒ3.5bn and net financial debt fell by 1.4% to ƒ16.4bn.
According to infrastructure manager DB Networks, demand for train paths in Germany was slightly below the record levels seen in 2011, declining 1.1% to 1 billion track-km.
Private operators increased their share by 4.9% to 22.2% of total train paths, while the number of station stops rose by 0.8%. The total number of railway companies using the network reached 395.
Queensland Rail to face further restructuring T
HE Queensland state government is to
introduce legislation to change Queensland Rail (QR) from a government-owned corporation to a statutory authority, which minister for transport Mr Scott Emerson says will lift the performance of the railway network and bring costs under control. Emerson claims that without action, taxpayer funding of QR would need to increase from $A 1.6bn ($US 1.7bn) to $A 1.9bn over the next two years. The transition to statutory authority status will allow the minister to exercise tighter and more direct control when initiating changes within QR. There has been a mixed
reaction to the move with some observers suggesting it is
IRJ May 2013
a prelude to further privatisation, while others believe that the organisation has scope for greater efficiency and productivity, especially in areas such as suburban train crewing and station staffing where there has been little change in working practices in recent years. “Transferring from a government-owned corporation to a statutory authority brings [QR] closer to government, not
privatisation,” Emerson says. “Passengers won’t notice any changes and all staff contracts and benefits will continue.” QR is the only part of the state’s rail business that remains under government ownership after the 2010 privatisation of the QR
silicon carbide inverters for 600/750V dc type 01 trains for the Ginza Line, which were introduced in February 2012, and for type 15,000 1.5kV dc trains for Tokyo Metro’s Tozai Line in January.
enough, rail capacity will have to increase in western Canada and the North Dakota Bakken area from 1 million barrels per day to 1.6 million by 2017.
China
Voith Engineering Services has been awarded a contract worth around ƒ7m to develop a low-floor LRV for Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Group, China. Work was due to begin on the project at the end of March and should conclude by late-2014.
Czech Republic
Open-access operator Leo Express recorded a 25% increase in traffic in March on its services linking Prague, Ostrava and Bohumin. Average occupancy is now 70% and at peak times Leo Express is operating two of its Stadler Flirt emus in multiple.
Germany
Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR) has selected Abellio Rail NRW as its preferred bidder for a concession to operate the Lower Rhine Network for 12 years starting in December 2016.
International
National freight business (now Aurizon). It is responsible for Brisbane’s suburban rail services and the state’s regional passenger services, together with management of around 7000km of track outside the major coalfields. The high cost of regional passenger services, where distance are far and patronage is low, has been a major issue for successive governments with claims it is the most expensive passenger network per kilometre in Australia. In February, Emerson launched a review into transport subsidies for travel in regional Queensland across all modes which it is thought could spell the end for some of Queensland’s under-utilised long-distance passenger trains.
An agreement to open an international high-speed rail and transport centre in Moscow in September 2014 has been signed by French National Railways (SNCF), Russian Railways (RZD), Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT) where the centre will be located, and two other French institutions.
Japan
Odakyu Electric Railway has completed the second phase of a project launched in 1989 to quadruple and eliminate level crossings on a line in Tokyo when it opened an 11.8km section between Yoyogi- Uehara and Mukogaoka-Yuen. The final 1.6km section, which is being constructed underground between Yoyogi- Uehara and Setagaya-Daita,
will be completed in 2018. Sanriku Railway has reopened a 21.6km section of the Minami Riasu Line
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