A recap on InnoTrans – September 2016

September has been an exciting period for the rail manufacturing sector with Innotrans held earlier this month in Berlin, Germany. A showcase for the sector, the event is held every two years over six days. This year, an estimated 3,455 exhibitors from 62 countries attended the event to showcase the latest in rail product and service offerings and innovation.

Australia was well represented at numerous company booths, with many additional companies participating in the Australian Railway Industry Pavilion organised and hosted by Austrade. I would like to thank Austrade for their hard work in facilitating both the formal Australian delegation that headed to Innotrans and for their efforts in organising the booth. The opportunities such efforts afford to organisations like ours, and more importantly SMEs, is significantly valuable.

Of course there were many highlights at Innotrans – personally, these included the unveiling of a number of new and innovative products from our participants.

In collaboration with OBB, CRRC unveiled a fully electric shunting locomotive which contains a CRRC electrical storage system (155kWh, 200-800kW) which is charged at various intervals by catenary.

Faiveley Transport unveilled a number of new innovations including a new platform door system with the motor systems located at floor level and a highly innovative axle-mounted brake disc called Faiveley NeoFlexx® that utilizes innovative laser welding techniques to create a product exhibiting reduced weight and heat retention.

Bombardier showcased two new trains including the Movia Maxx (high-capacity metro train) and the next generation Talent EMU, Talent 3, while Knorr-Bremse demonstrated further applications of its iCom system which is a modular application suite that includes condition monitoring and predictive maintenance capabilities. IFE, Knorr’s subsidiary, also unveiled its new ultralight, fast opening/closing door for mass urban transit applications. To learn more, visit the Knorr-Bremse website.

Alstom also unveiled its hydrogen fuel cell train, the Coradia iLint regional train (as below), which Germany has endeavoured to purchase. This zero emissions train will be watched with interest over the coming years to assess the capacity of fuel cell technology to power rail applications.