ICE-M

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term ICE-M (abbreviation for InterCityExpress Mehrsystem ) describes a research project in the 1980s and 1990s to develop a multi-system Intercity Express train for cross-border traffic. The term was also the preliminary name for the high-speed trains that were to emerge from this project.

The power cars of the train were to be designated as the class 411 (today: ICE T ), the intermediate cars as the class 811 .

history

Policy study

The ICE 1, which went into service between 1991 and 1994, now operates in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

As early as the mid-1980s, the Deutsche Bundesbahn was working on an ICE for several power systems.

A first concept study of the former German Federal Railways and rail vehicle manufacturers, with support from the Federal Ministry of Research , examined at the end of the 1980s, the requirements for a high speed - Multiple Unit for international traffic. In the spring of 1989, the Deutsche Bundesbahn commissioned the industry to develop an ICE multi-system variant. The technical basis was the ICE 1 , which was used in passenger traffic from June 1991 .

For the main traffic flows to Belgium , the GDR , France , the Netherlands , Italy , Scandinavia , Austria , Eastern Europe and Switzerland , a requirement of around one hundred trains was expected. These should each be 200 meters long and offer space for 370 passengers. About half of the multiple units would have had to be procured by the Federal Railroad at that time, the other units from the European partner railways.

The main focus of the considerations was the compatibility with various traction current systems in neighboring countries and the drive equipment. The main parameters of the planned train were determined by the specifications for high-speed trains , which the then state railways of Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium had passed on January 17, 1986. The concept envisaged modular trains that were to be equipped for specific groups of countries. A single multiple unit seemed economically unreasonable due to the different requirements of the different countries and the expectation that certain vehicles would be used in fixed circuits. Based on a basic version, modules for the countries to be traveled should be retrofitted instead.

On the basis of the basic study, two or three prototypes as a four-system variant should be built by the end of 1993 (status: 1991). With the exception of Great Britain , these trains should be able to use all standard gauge networks in Europe. The first connections should include Amsterdam – Cologne – Frankfurt am Main and Frankfurt am Main – Brussels, from 1995 also with extensions to Austria and Switzerland. About 20 multiple units were planned for these first routes.

A working group of the International Union of Railways had already been founded in mid-1988 to deal with the "development of uniform solutions for multi-system traction vehicles". At the end of 1988 the ICE forerunner train InterCityExperimental ran in France for a week towing a TGV (due to different electricity systems, it could not run on its own). This, according to the Bundesbahn at the time, showed that the ICE was basically suitable for France and Europe.

technology

The train should take into account the diverse requirements of the European countries (e.g. axle load , clearance profile , train radio , comfort features).

Four traction current systems should be supported:

  • Alternating current as the basis: 15 kV 16 2 ⁄ 3  Hz ( formerly Deutsche Bundesbahn, Deutsche Reichsbahn , ÖBB , SBB ) and 25 kV 50 Hz ( SNCF new lines, later also those of RENFE )
  • Direct current optional: 3 kV ( SNCB , FS ) and 1.5 kV (old SNCF lines, NS )

Other key parameters were:

The maximum permitted axle load of 17 t reflects the limit of the French high-speed routes only used by the TGV . A maximum axle load of 20 tons was sufficient for the German routes opened in 1991, which also serve heavy goods traffic.

The installation of the numerous national train control systems was rated as particularly difficult and the need for technical harmonization (today in the form of ETCS ) was emphasized. The different types of train radio systems were also identified as a problem (today harmonized by GSM-R ).

On March 17, 1988, the same four state railways agreed on conceptual specifications for high-speed trains . A train was projected more precisely based on the parameters from 1986. The total mass of the train was to be 450 tons, with four tension systems each being installed in the power cars with a mass of 68 tons each (17 tons axle load). The maximum output under alternating current should be 4.15 megawatts per power car, the continuous output 3.6 megawatts. With direct current at around 2 megawatts (1.5 kilovolts) or 2.5 megawatts (3 kilovolts). Disc brakes , drag brakes and network brakes were provided as braking systems for the power cars .

114 seats in first class and 263 seats in second class were to be installed in six intermediate cars. According to a study by the Bundesbahn's design center , the seating should be similar to that of the ICE 1. The open plan areas should be designed in rows and face-to-face areas, with a seat divider (two rows) of 1880 millimeters in the second and 2100 millimeters in the first class, plus three or four compartments per car. A conference and children's section as well as half a dining car with a bistro (standing tables) were also planned. The axle load of the intermediate car should be 13 tons, the width of 2890 millimeters in view of the international UIC profile should be somewhat lower than the ICE 1 (3020 millimeters).

In contrast to the ICE 1, the ICE-M was to have automatic couplings at the front so that it could operate in double traction . Due to the short train length, the two power cars should be connected to each other via a high-voltage roof line.

Further research

In March 1988 an application for funding was submitted to the Federal Ministry of Research. Accordingly, a pilot series of five multiple units was to be built from the beginning of 1990, which should run at 300 km / h from the mid-1990s.

Shortly before leaving office, Federal Transport Minister Warnke decided to support the development of a multi-system ICE train. On the basis of the basic study, Federal Research Minister Heinz Riesenhuber decided in 1989 to support the concrete development of a multi - system high - speed train . The ministry assumed around 40 percent of the development costs. The ministry's funding totaled 18.3 million Deutschmarks . A first series of around five trains, which were to run on the Paris - Brussels - Cologne route as early as 1993 , was not the subject of funding.

Between 1972 and 1990, basic research into high-speed rail traffic was funded with around 450 million Deutschmarks .

The project was intended to strengthen the market opportunities for the then Federal Railways in European rail passenger transport. The project was also considered a national contribution to a possible uniform European high-speed train (later projected as High Speed ​​Train Europe ).

When the first series 401 power car was handed over, Federal Research Minister Riesenhuber expected that the first trains would be available for cross-border traffic in 1992. The Bundesbahn's business plan for 1990 provided for one billion Deutschmarks for nineteen additional ICE trains and seven trains with multi-system equipment.

With a car width of 3020 millimeters, the trains would have been 132 millimeters above the UIC's internationally approved value of 2888 millimeters.

Two-system ICE for the Netherlands

The Nederlandse Spoorwegen showed interest in a two-system variant of the ICE even before the national ICE system went into operation in 1991 . Considerations envisaged a relatively short train - compared to the ICE 1, which is up to 411 meters long - which should reach 220 km / h in the Dutch direct current network and 300 km / h in Germany. Use on new lines in the Netherlands (below 25 kilovolts) was also considered. According to rough calculations, the power requirement would have been around 6 megawatts. Long before from 1996 put into operation ICE 2 finally therefrom a concept that originated a half train with a drive head (2 megawatts) envisaged of 4 megawatts and a driven driving car. The control car, which is 20,560 millimeters long, analogous to the powered end car, was to include engine and luggage space as well as three first-class compartments (with 18 seats). The running bogies should have air suspension, the steps for the platforms of the DB (76 centimeters) and the NS (84 centimeters) should be optimized. The width of the train should match that of the ICE 1, the axle load of the power cars should be 19.5 tons.

The concept could have been implemented by 1995. As it was not possible to develop a viable, long-term marketing concept (especially since DB was busy with the ICE introduction), the planning was canceled.

Cross-border ICE traffic today

ICE 3 in Cologne Central Station. 17 of 67 units are multi-system capable.

The results of the project found their way into the ICE 3M built by Deutsche Bahn in the late 1990s . Today 16 multi-system ICE trains operate between Germany and the neighboring countries of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Of these, 12 belong to the DB and four to the NS. Another of the original 17 ICE3 M / F trains had an accident and was not restored.

A part of the ICE-1 fleet operates at the same operating voltage (15 kV 16.7 Hz AC voltage) to Austria and Switzerland, as well as some ICE T . The ICE 3 single-system vehicles run to Basel SBB station . From December 2007 to 2017, some ICE TD operated between Germany and Denmark .

literature

  • Martin Voß: ICE-M multi-system multiple unit. In: Die Bundesbahn , edition 5/1989, pp. 389–398
  • Multi-system train ICE-M. In: Railway technical review. July / August 1989 edition, p. 523f.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Planning company Schnellbahnbau Hannover – Berlin (ed.): Schnellbahn Hannover – Berlin. Brochure (20 A4 pages) dated December 1990, Berlin 1991, p. 15.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Matthias Maier, Rüdiger Block: ICE. InterCity Experimental. InterCity Express. In: Eisenbahn-Kurier Special: High-speed traffic . No. 21, 1991, excluding ISSN, pp. 58-67.
  3. ↑ Europe-wide Tempo 250? In: Die Bahn informs. ZDB -ID 2003143-9 , issue 3/1985, p. 2.
  4. ^ Foreword by the editors to the new edition. In: Theo Rahn, Hubert Hochbruck, Friedrich W. Möller (eds.): ICE - train of the future. Hestra-Verlag, Darmstadt 1991, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Announcement New multi-system vehicles soon? In: Eisenbahn-Kurier , No. 196, 1, 1989, ISSN  0170-5288 , p. 9.
  6. ↑ InterCity Express in Euro version. In: Die Bahn informs. ZDB -ID 2003143-9 , issue 1/1989, p. 9.
  7. ↑ Message ICE finally ordered. In: Eisenbahn-Kurier , issue 8/1988, p. 36.
  8. ↑ Green light for multi-system ICE. In: The Federal Railroad . Vol. 65, No. 5, 1989, ISSN  0007-5876 , p. 368.
  9. ^ The further plans of the new railway. In: Bahn-Special. The new railway. No. 1, 1991, Gera-Nova-Verlag, Munich, p. 78 f.
  10. ↑ The InterCity Express - result of the funding of rail research by the BMFT. In: Railway technical review. 40 (1991), volume 5/6, p. 377 f.
  11. ↑ Message First ICE powered end car ready. In: Railway technical review. No. 11, 1989, p. 1002 f.
  12. ↑ Dieter Eikhoff: Everything about the ICE. transpress-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-613-71277-5 , p. 18.
  13. ↑ a b Heinz Kurz : 15 years of the ICE. Part 1: From Intercity Experimental to ICE 1. In: Eisenbahn-Kurier , 4, No. 403, April 2006, ISSN  0170-5288 , pp. 58-63.