Published on January 14th, 2023 📆 | 5914 Views ⚑
0Smarter Railroad Tracks Are Boosting Train Safety And Efficiency
Think âadvanced rail technologyâ and bullet trains or magnetic-levitation systems might come to mind. But what about the steel rails freight and passenger trains run on? Advances in machine learning, big data collection and voice-recognition tools that have transformed manufacturing, cars, retail and social media are also being leveraged to make vital rail operations safer and much more efficient.
Alstom, which makes passenger trains including Amtrakâs next-generation Acela units and rail signaling equipment, says itâs rolling out more advanced digital circuits and sensors in North America and other global markets that tap into the electrical current flowing through tracks to collect and share detailed information like a trainâs location, detect warped wheels and monitor track conditions. The goal is to lower the risk of derailments, system failures and, ideally, operate freight lines more efficiently by allowing trains to run closer together.
âThere's electrical current going through the rail thatâs used to say: is there a train here or not? That technology hasnât really changed much in 100 years,â Jeff Baker, vice president of Alstomâs freight and product division, told Forbes. That existing system, which also determines whether tracks are broken, detects a trainâs position within only about two miles and transfers just 3 or 4 bits of data per second, he said.
Using the companyâs new digital circuit, âwe can tell where trains are to within about a half mile. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a huge improvement,â said Baker. âAnd when it comes to (data) capacity, it's kind of like going from the telegraph to an ethernet cable. ⌠Weâve essentially turned the rail itself into an ethernet cable.â
Surging freight demand is pushing rail operators including Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and CSX to maximize use of their 140,000 miles of track crisscrossing the U.S. Their recent contract dispute with rail workers seeking increased paid leave for sick days also underscored how critical the industry is to the broader economy: a strike was estimated to cost $2 billion a day from the disruption of the flow of goods. At the same time, the Biden Administration also wants Amtrak to expand its service and ridership, while also ensuring improved safety. A deadly derailment on an Amtrak train in Montana in September 2021 that killed three passengers is believed to have resulted from tracks warped by intense heat.
âWeâve essentially turned the rail itself into an ethernet cable.â
âThereâs something called a âsun kinkâ where the rail gets really hot and snaps,â Baker said. âWith this technology, we can start to predict when those things are going to happen.â
As heatwaves become more common, a byproduct of global warming, thatâs likely to be an important ability. Alstomâs signaling division, which supplies the new circuit systems technology, reported revenue of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in the first half of its fiscal year, up 7%. Itâs scheduled to report third-quarter results on Jan. 25.
Based in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, France, the company is installing its new circuits in heavily trafficked rail corridors at about 2-mile intervals on the tracks and sensor-laden âhealth hubsâ collecting data transmitted to railroad operators.
âA train will pass through a suite of sensors, almost like a carwash, and it detects all kinds of stuff off the trainâwheel temperatures, wheel round,â Baker said. Using algorithms to monitor that data over time for individual trains detects when âbearings are degrading or wheels are getting out of round, those kinds of train performance characteristics we can do preventive maintenance on.â
Shares of Alstom rose 1.5% to close at 25.75 euros in Paris on Friday.
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