Bombardier Transportation carried out a successful demonstration of a new silicon carbide (SiC)-equipped Mitrac TC1500 traction converter. The trial project investigated the potential contribution of SiC towards more sustainable urban transit systems with lower energy consumption and noise levels.
SiC demonstrators are not new to railways, but a move to mainstream adoption requires products that effectively transform technology into overall system benefits. The highly flexible and modular Mitrac 1500 propulsion range does this with its unique choice of eco-friendly solutions, including SiC. Supported by the Swedish Energy Agency, the program saw Bombardier team up with customer and fleet owner Stockholm County Council (SLL), fleet operator MTR Tech, academic partner KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the RISE / Acreo research institute. Following a pre-study phase to establish the potential benefits, a prototype was designed, built and tested at Bombardier’s engineering center in Västerås, Sweden. The Mitrac TC1500 traction converter equipped with SiC semiconductors was then tested on a C20 vehicle running on the Stockholm Metro.
After seeing successful passenger service on the Stockholm Metro Green line from December 2017 to March 2018, results showed energy reductions of up to 35%, 19 dB lower noise emissions, a 51% reduction in size and 22% less weight in the propulsion system.
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