Swiss company ABB will deliver the complete traction system for the modernisation of CFR Călători locomotives under the contract concluded by the state railway operator in Romania with Reloc Craiova.
The new transformers, converters and electric motors supplied by ABB will help the locomotives reach maximum speeds of 160 km/hour, up from the current 120 km/hour, according to a statement posted on ABB’s website on Monday.
The Zurich-headquartered company has won a significant order to deliver the complete traction system for the modernization of 19 5100-kilowatt (kW) locomotives operated by CFR Călători. ABB will supply the traction equipment – transformers, converters and electric motors – in partnership with Reloc, a local company specialising in overhauling and upgrading locomotives operating in Romania and the Balkan region. The order was booked for the fourth quarter of 2023.
The project will contribute to achieving high levels of energy efficiency and reliability for locomotives in Romania in order to bring them in line with European passenger transport standards. This is a critical issue, as the country’s ageing public transport infrastructure currently limits the speed of passenger trains to an average speed of just 40 km/hour, the release said. Given the urgent situation, the locomotive modernisation project is funded by Romania’s EU-supported National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).
Modernisation of CFR Călători locomotives will reduce energy consumption
The state-of-the-art traction system that will benefit the 19 LE 5100 kW Co’Co’ locomotives is expected to bring significant energy savings and reduced maintenance costs, while increasing their traction power up to 6 MW. The use of modern IGBT traction converters, traction transformers and asynchronous (AC) traction motors will improve the overall efficiency of the locomotive propulsion system by 5% compared to the old traction system with thyristor rectifiers and direct current (DC) motors. In addition, energy savings of 15% will be achieved through energy recovery during braking.
“On-time delivery and energy efficient solutions are key elements of this project. The ability to meet short delivery deadlines combined with ABB’s expertise in delivering significant efficiency improvements and the competence of the propulsion system made ABB the right partner to ensure success in this project,” said George-Călin Grațian, Reloc’s CEO.
“We are delighted to be working with Reloc on this critical modernization project, which will enable CFR passenger trains to run at 160 km/hour compared to the current speed of 120 km/hour. Increasing the reliability of CFR locomotives will be key to this success, as each locomotive is expected to travel approximately 278,000 km per year. ABB is thus demonstrating its ability to create value by providing complete traction systems that are fully tested under harsh conditions,” said Roger Affolter, Head of Retrofit, ABB Traction.
Each of the 5100 kW CFR locomotives will be retrofitted with a traction transformer, two CC 1500 MS traction converters and six AMX 500 traction motors.
Last month, CFR Călători signed several service contracts as part of an NRP project that includes the modernisation of 55 locomotives and 139 passenger carriages. The rolling stock will be modernised at Atelierele CFR Grivița, Electroputere VFU Pașcani, Remarul 16 Februarie Cluj, Reloc Craiova, Softronic Craiova and SCRL Brașov.
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