Re-gauging (railway vehicle)
With Umspurung of a railway vehicle of the technical process is called, with the vehicle and a rail network is moved to another, when the track width of the two systems is different. The gauging is done either by exchanging the drive ( re-waxing ) or changing the drive while it remains on the vehicle. In most cases, other precautions are also taken during the process for use on the new route network. A distinction must be made between re-gauging during operation and retrofitting for longer-term use of a vehicle on a different gauge.
Re-gauging in regular operation is mainly used on the border between France and Spain , within Spain and on the borders of railways built according to Russian standards . There are projects for re-gauging used in regular operation in Switzerland and Japan .
history
Since 1926, freight traffic was possible with re-gauged, through wagons between the railways in Russian broad gauge and the standard-gauge railways in Central and Western Europe.
technology
Umspuranlagen
A gauge change system is a stationary system with which the gauge of rail vehicles can be changed. The wheelsets or bogies of the vehicles are exchanged in conventional gauge changing systems . Processes in which the distance between the wheel disks is adapted to the network to be driven on are newer and more technically complex. Special wheel sets or single wheel drives must be available for this. In the past, this technology could only be used for vehicles with non-driven axles ; since 2000 it has also been available for traction vehicles .
Conventional gauging systems
According to the conventional method, the bogies are released from the car body and the latter is raised to approximately 1.5 m with jacks. With a capstan system , the bogies of the old gauge are pulled away from under the vehicles and those for the new gauge are pulled under the wagons. During this process, the bogies are connected to each other with clamps placed over the frame, so that the bogies can be exchanged in one operation of the capstan winch. After the new bogies are positioned under the car, the car bodies are lowered again and the bogies are connected to the car body.
Bogies or wheelsets can be changed on freight wagons. When changing the wheel sets, the brake blocks must also be adjusted accordingly. The process is also used for bogie wagons on the Spanish-French border. Cars approved for swap traffic with Spain and Portugal have adjustable brake triangles and a significantly larger distance between the frame sides.
On the western border of the Russian broad-gauge network, the couplings of passenger coaches are also being replaced. Russian freight wagons that cannot be equipped with side buffers due to the design of the floor frame are transported in the regular gauge network with coupling wagons .
The gauge change system is usually housed in a hall. At the transition between the Western European standard gauge network and the Russian broad gauge, the mixed-gauge track on which the bogie change is made has additional rails on the inside that guide the standard gauge wheels on the rear surfaces. A simple four-rail track is possible at the Spanish-French crossings because of the greater difference to the Iberian broad gauge.
- Gauge change facility in Brest station (Belarus) on the Polish border
Lifting the car bodies with jacks
Replacement of the bogies, in the picture the GP200 standard gauge bogies
Replacement of the clutch
The ropes of the capstan system can be seen on the left of the wheel, on the right the guide rail for the standard gauge wheel sets
Automatic gauge change systems
The automatic gauging systems can only be used by vehicles that have drives specially adapted to the system. The lane change is carried out while driving slowly through the system. When the system is driven at about 15 km / h, the release mechanism of the drive is opened by operating rails so that the wheel disks of guide rails can be adjusted to the new track width. A distinction must be made as to whether the wheels are relieved or loaded during the gauge change.
Re-gauging with unloaded wheels
In the systems from Talgo and CAF used in Spain for passenger trains, the vehicles are supported by side-mounted slide rails during the gauge change process, so that the wheels are relieved during the gauge change process and can be moved laterally by special guide rails. The wheels are held in the position by bolts which are pulled down by an unlocking rail while driving and return to the locking position by spring force at the end of the lane change. With the Talgo system, each wheel disc sits on a single stub axle that is moved along with its bearings. With the CAF system, the wheel disks are shifted on the axles. Both systems are in operation in Spain.
The Talgo system is one of the longest in use. Since 1969, more than three million gauge changes have been carried out without any failures. Only icing can lead to disruptions that can jam the train in the gauge change system.
Automatic re-gauging systems are in operation in Spain that can work with both the Talgo and the CAF systems. The systems used up to now have two track gratings with the different auxiliary equipment for the two systems. Before a train passes through, the track grating that fits the system is folded down or pushed into position to the side.
In Switzerland, for use on the GoldenPass Line of Prose developed a system in which narrow gauge passenger coaches with bogies EV09 can be transferred to standard gauge lines. The gauging system moves the two halves of the longitudinally divided bogie frame against each other. In addition to changing the track width, the height of the car body support is also being changed in order to adapt the entrances to the different platform heights in the two networks.
A system for automatically changing lanes on passenger trains is also being tested in Japan.
Re-gauging with loaded wheels
Systems have been developed for freight transport that allow wagons with loaded wheels to be re-tracked. So that the wheels do not climb onto the rails while the track width is being adjusted , the track width may only be changed slowly with these systems, so that the gauge change system is much longer than with systems for unloaded wheels.
The PKP and the DB AG have developed a uniform Umspurtechnik, on both wheelsets of type SUW 2000 (PKP) as the type DB AG / Rafil V can also be automatically umgespurt. Here, the wheel disks are unlocked on the rigid axle, moved into the respective end position and then locked again. Depending on the type of gauging system, this process can take place at the same time for both wheel disks of a wheelset (symmetrical system) or first for the wheel disks on one side and then the other (asymmetrical system). Asymmetrical systems require a longer distance for the gauge change than symmetrical systems. The systems for the SUW-2000 and DB AG / Rafil V systems are longer than the gauging systems of the Talgo system, as the wheel disks are shifted under load and therefore the ratio of lane change to the gauging distance must be smaller. However, you do not need any moving parts on the track, so that no weather protection is required. Lane changing wheel sets of the types SUW-2000 and DB AG / Rafil V can also be used under passenger coaches.
Freight transport
In rail freight transport , no re-gauging vehicles are often used. Instead, the goods are often reloaded , which is now associated with relatively little effort with containers or swap bodies .
Alternatively, if there is a high volume of traffic , routes with different gauges are extended to areas where this is not the usual gauge of the majority of the existing routes. Multi-rail tracks are often used here.
Trolleys and trolleys can also be used to transport individual vehicles . In these, wagons of one gauge are loaded onto wagons or drives of the other gauge.
Traction vehicles
Locomotives and railcars can in principle also be re-gauged, but because of the great effort this is usually not done during operation, but as part of conversion work in workshops. The traction vehicles thus remain in the network of their original track width during their operational use. Exceptions are the vehicles with powered lane change bogies of the types Talgo and CAF.
Some locomotive (and other vehicle) types are structurally prepared for operation on different gauges. These include, for example, the LTS M62 diesel locomotives , the Renfe series 252 and 449, many locomotives, multiple units and wagons of the Tunisian State Railways and the Gmeinder D 75 BB-SE locomotives . In such vehicles, the gauging only requires the replacement of parts, but no cutting or welding work. It is a relief in Europe that the pulling and buffing device and brakes in the standard gauge network as well as the Iberian and Eastern European-Russian broad gauge network have largely identical dimensions. Examples of steam locomotives designed for re-gauging were the EAR - Garratts of the 59 series , the Latvian series Bt / Pt and Ct / Rt and the Russian S W series machines built for the Warsaw-Vienna railway . They corresponded to the Central European clearance profile, for re-gauging you only had to press and turn the wheel stars from the axle shafts and, as a result, the wheel tires and drive or coupling pins, and adjust the position of the brake blocks and track clearers.
The re-gauging of vehicles that were not designed for this is profound. The effort increases sharply with the track width difference. The re-gauging of broad gauge wagons captured by German troops in World War II was relatively simple , with tank wagons being particularly sought after. After the end of the war, on the other hand, captured German vehicles or those confiscated as reparations were put on Russian broad gauge. Examples are steam locomotives of the German class 52 , railcars of the Berlin S-Bahn and U-Bahn and electric locomotives of the classes E 44 and E 94 . Because of the width of the bogie frame and the lack of installation space, the last two series were not suitable for conversion to the Russian broad gauge and the SA3 type central buffer coupling. The result was severe damage. From 1958 to 1960 around 1500 machines of the SŽD FD series were delivered to China and converted there to standard gauge.
Re-gauging by swapping bogies
The PKP has shunting locomotives , with both regular as well as broad-gauge bogies can be equipped. They are used on the Polish eastern border and, depending on the volume of goods, prepared for use on the relevant route network.
The RENFE has with the series 252 universal electric locomotives that can be used both in standard gauge as in the broad gauge network. The locomotives of this series, which run on the standard-gauge high-speed network, are used both in front of express trains from Talgo wagons and in front of the freight trains on the route from the French border to Barcelona . Some locomotives of this series have already been re-gauged several times.
With the construction of the first standard-gauge high-speed line, series 100 multiple units similar to the French TGV were procured. Some of the trains were delivered with broad gauge bogies as the 101 series and used on the route along the Mediterranean between Barcelona and Valencia . With the increasing demand for standard-gauge high-speed trains, these were again equipped with standard-gauge bogies in 2009 and incorporated into the 100 series.
With the 9020 series, the CP also had regainable locomotives.
Locomotives with Talgo bogies
The technology developed by Talgo at the end of the 1960s allows vehicles to be re-tracked while driving slowly through a correspondingly set-up re-gauging system. Up until the year 2000, this technology was only used for non-powered wagons that were hauled by locomotives that remained in the network of their traditional gauge. In 2000 the Talgo XXI was presented, which is considered to be the first traction vehicle that can be tracked while driving. In 2005, the Travca L 9202 was the prototype of a multi-system electric locomotive . This was followed by the power cars for the high-speed trains of the RENFE series 130 , the first series-built vehicles that are operationally used in gauge changing systems.
With the re-trackable Talgo drive, each impeller is firmly connected to its large gear and can be shifted laterally in the bogie. On the countershaft sit pinions, which are always in mesh with the large gears due to their width, regardless of the track width setting. The sliding pieces and unlocking devices for the re-gauging process correspond to those of the intermediate car.
Locomotives according to other systems
In Spain, in addition to the Talgo system, the CAF system is also used, but this is only installed in the RENFE class 120 multiple units and two multiple units of the 594 series . The Japanese Kikan Kahen Densha has driven axles, which can also be changed between Cape gauge and normal gauge with an automatic gauge change system.
Technical requirements for re-trackable vehicles
Vehicles that can be re-tracked must meet the conditions in both networks, for example the vehicle boundary profile, the clutches, the braking equipment and the axle and meter load. This becomes all the more complicated the more the standards of the networks involved differ from one another and the greater the difference in track widths. For vehicles that are to run on the European standard and the Iberian and CIS broad-gauge network, it is still comparatively easy due to the standardization based on the rules of the technical unit in the railway sector. If the systems differ too much, as will be the case between MOB and Simmentalbahn in the future , then the vehicles cannot freely be used in the other network.
standardization
The International Union of Railways (UIC) and the Organization for Cooperation between the Railways (OSJD) founded a joint working group on “Automatic Lane Change Systems” (JWG AGCS) in November 2011. The aim is to standardize automatic lane change systems between Russian broad gauge, European standard gauge and Iberian broad gauge, both for freight and for passenger traffic.
Applications
Traffic by rail according to Russian standards
The railways in Finland , the Baltic States , Belarus , Ukraine , the Republic of Moldova , the Caucasian states as well as Central Asia and Mongolia are built according to Russian standards and have a gauge of 1520 mm. Re-gauging is necessary to get into the rail network of the rest of Europe, as well as for an onward journey to China.
Finland
Wagons that pass from the Western European to the Finnish network by trajectory are lifted in a gauge change facility in the port of Turku and the bogies or individual axles are replaced. In Tornio there is also an asymmetrical gauge change facility on the Boden – Haparanda railway line , but it is rarely used. This is the only rail link between the Finnish and Swedish networks.
Germany
In the Mukran ferry port in Sassnitz in the north-east of Rügen there is a gauge change facility - exclusively for freight traffic - in which wagons are gauge tracked before they are transported by train to Klaipėda for onward travel on the broad gauge lines of the Baltic States . This is done by exchanging the bogies. It is the only such facility in Germany.
Poland
Re-gauging is necessary in traffic with Lithuania , Belarus and Ukraine . An automatic system for the SUW 2000 system is located on the border with Ukraine in Przemyśl .
Lithuania
An asymmetrical system for wheel sets of the types SUW-2000 and DB AG / Rafil V is used at the Mockava station in Lithuania . A passenger train with SUW-2000 axles between Warsaw and Vilnius was then re-gauged until the connection was closed.
Moldova
The gauge change for the transition from the Romanian to the Moldovan rail network takes place at Ungheni station . This station is still in the (well restored) original condition from the year of construction in 1876 and is designed as a double station with two sides of the track, one standard-gauge and one wide-gauge.
Belarus
The most important re-gauging station for journeys from Europe into the broad gauge network of the CIS is Brest , where the passenger coaches are re-gauged in appropriately equipped halls. In addition to the bogies, the couplings will also be changed and the transition bridges will be converted. Due to the non-rigid principle of the SA3 central buffer coupling, a higher position of the transition bridges is required when using it. Until the mid-1990s, main car trains formed from long-distance cars ran into the standard gauge network, with the couplings only being changed on the end cars.
Ukraine
Re-gauging systems for passenger traffic are located in Jahodyn and Tschop .
China
In traffic with China, the trains are re-gauged at the borders to Kazakhstan in Dostyk and Korgas, to Mongolia in Eren Hot and at the border stations of the Trans-Manchurian Railway in Sabaikalsk and in Ussuriysk .
The railways in China and Korea use Janney type center buffer couplings at a height of 790 millimeters above the top of the rails, which were introduced there during the Japanese invasion of World War II . To compensate for the difference in height, some of the transferable cars are equipped with height-adjustable coupling pockets.
Spain
Talgo trains
Systems for vehicles with Talgo axles were built in 1969 in Portbou and Irún on the Spanish-French border for Talgo RD (rodadura desplazable) and were used by the Catalán Talgo between Barcelona and Geneva as well as by the hotel trains to Paris , Zurich and Milan . The connections to Zurich and Milan were discontinued in 2012, the connection to Paris will follow at the end of 2013. [obsolete]
Passenger trains from regular vehicles
Until the timetable change in 1994, passenger trains made up of ordinary bogie wagons ran from France to Spain and Portugal. The last trains were the 310/313 » Sud-Expres « from Paris Austerlitz to Lisbon Santa Apolónia with through coaches to Porto, the 300/301 » Puerta del Sol « to Madrid Chamartín (from 1991 to 1993 with a through coach to and from Moscow, which had to be re-gauged twice) and the through car connection Paris – Algeciras . The lane change procedure was similar to that used at the transitions to the Russian broad-gauge network, except that the jacks could be moved so that they could be positioned at the car's lifting points. Different types of wagons could be handled and the wagon trains could be lifted when coupled. At least with the 300/301, only sleeping, couchette and car transport cars were relocated, while the passengers had to change to the seated car.
The gauge changing system for passenger coaches in Hendaye has since been canceled. Its location at the end of the broad-gauge platform tracks is still recognizable.
Freight transport
For freight traffic between France and Spain, there are gauging systems in Hendaye / Irún and Cerbère / Portbou , where the axles are swapped - including on the bogie wagons.
Transport within Spain
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The standard gauge lines are shown in blue, the Iberian broad gauge lines in brown; the gauging systems are the red dots.
With the construction of the regular- gauge AVE lines , systems for the transition from the Spanish broad-gauge network to the new lines in Madrid , Córdoba , Saragossa , Lleida , Seville , Antequera- Santa Ana and near Tarragona have been added since 1992 . These systems can be accessed by both vehicles based on the Talgo system and those based on the CAF system. Today, over five hundred trains are re-tracked every day.
Japan
In Japan, re-gauging multiple units for 1067 and 1435 mm gauges are under development. In 1998 the first test train called Kikan Kahen Densha ("train with changeable gauge") was built. This had driven axles that could be re-gauged automatically. Two different types of bogies were used for experimental purposes. In 2006 it was replaced by a second test train based on the Shinkansen series E3 .
Despite the commissioning of the regular-gauge Shinkansen route through the Seikan tunnel in 2015, freight traffic with Cape-gauge trains had to be maintained. To this end, the Torein on Torein ( train on train ) concept is being developed. It provided for the Cape-gauge wagons to be loaded onto covered, standard-gauge transport wagons for the journey through the Seikan Tunnel . So far, however, the practical introduction of this system has been refrained from; instead, both tracks have received the third rails that have already been prepared in the slab track.
Kikan Kahen Densha, first version
Kikan Kahen Densha, second version
Torein on Torein- Mockup
Switzerland
In addition to the standard-gauge network, there are numerous meter-gauge railways in Switzerland , especially in the Alps . The re-gauging bogie EV09 for gauges of 1000 mm and 1435 mm was specially developed for the GoldenPassLine . As a special feature, the height of the bogie geometry is also changed when changing gauges, whereby the entry height of the wagons is adapted to the different platform heights in the narrow-gauge and standard-gauge network. In 2010 a panorama car was equipped with the prototype of the new bogies and extensively tested. A provisional gauge change facility was set up in Montreux . When the timetable changes at the end of 2020, it is planned to use the technology in scheduled traffic. The gauge change system is set up in Zweisimmen station and the trains are re-gauged at slow speeds (15 km / h) when entering and leaving the station. The corresponding trains will run as closed units. With another gauge change facility in Interlaken, continuous journeys to Lucerne would be conceivable, which is currently not an issue.
Test vehicle with EV09 bogies
literature
- Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System . Berlin, Vienna 1912 ( zeno.org )
- Automatic lane change systems in Spain . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 2009, pp. 404–407
Web links
- Villmann Schwartze: Presentation of Spurwechselradsatzes "RAFIL / DBAG Type V" and the associated system components ( Memento of 2 December 2011 at the Internet Archive ) (PDF 2.96 MB)
- Video: Driving over the gauge change facility in Medykaan on the Polish-Ukrainian border
Individual evidence
- ^ Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of December 4, 1926, No. 54. Announcement No. 912, p. 432.
- ↑ Project “Automatic Lane Change Systems” on www.uic.org
- ↑ Prolongación del régimen de circulación Trenhotel Joan Miró y Francisco de Goya hasta el 13 de Diciembre de 2013. (PDF; 58 kB) (No longer available online.) September 2013, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 17, 2013 (Spanish). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Development of The Gauge Change Train System in Japan ( Memento from September 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Development of an adjustable gauge train in Japan) (PDF; English; 973 kB)
- ↑ Lane changing bogie EV09. (PDF) Prose AG, accessed on December 31, 2016 .
- ↑ Guido Lauper: By train without changing trains from Montreux to Interlaken? In: Berner Zeitung from May 19, 2015
- ↑ hav: meeting point Prose . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International. 7/2011, p. 339.
- ↑ Schweiz Aktuell on Swiss television from July 23, 2019
- ↑ 58 million for Zweisimmen train station. In: Berner Zeitung of August 12, 2015
- ↑ Christoph Gyr: Development of the EV09 track-changing trailer bogie . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International. 8–9 / 2011, pp. 382–386.
