Rail batteries back up Channel Tunnel
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Saft Industrial Batteries product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 23, 2007
Hitachi Rail has selected Saft compact Matrics MRX nickel-cadmium rail batteries to provide onboard back-up power for 29 new high-speed A-trains for the UK's Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) project.
Hitachi Rail, the Japanese rail OEM, has selected Saft compact Matrics MRX nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) rail batteries to provide onboard back-up power for 29 new high-speed A-trains for the UK's Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) project.
The new 225km/h trains, currently under construction in Japan, will offer major reductions in journey times between East Kent and London as well as playing a key role in carrying visitors to the 2012 London Olympics on the St Pancras to Stratford route.
The contract is a good example of close co-operation between a European-based supplier and a Japanese OEM to deliver a strategic rail project.
The CTRL rail project demonstrates Saft's global approach to the international rail business, with its European-based railway battery development and manufacturing operation working in partnership with a Japanese OEM, to deliver a project for the UK.
For this contract, Saft is working in conjunction with Sumitomo, its local agent through which it has delivered batteries for many Japanese rail projects, to supply 116 MRX battery systems for the Hitachi CTRL trains.
Four dc 110 V batteries, with a nominal capacity of 200Ah, will be installed under the floor of each six-coach train to provide emergency back-up power for key electrical circuits including lighting, door-opening, passenger communications and control systems.
Hitachi was awarded the contract for the CTRL trains on a build and maintain basis.
So in addition to seeking high-performance, reliable battery systems that would save on space and weight, Hitachi also required a solution that would enable maintenance to be kept to a minimum for an optimised total cost of ownership (TCO).
Saft Matrics MRX batteries offered the ideal solution for Hitachi as they have been purpose-designed to deliver maximum performance and reliability and low TCO in rail applications.
They provide the low maintenance and long service life benefits of sintered/PBE technology within a slim, lightweight block battery package, housed in a flame-retardant polypropylene case, which shows a major size and volume advantage compared with conventional batteries.
The Matrics MRX design is also extremely reliable and does not suffer from the sudden death which can affect some batteries, even in extreme temperatures ranging from -30d to +70C.
For Hitachi, the Matrics MRX integrated water filling system is particularly important.
This simple to use feature fills all the cells from one central point - without any moving parts - and substantially reduces the battery maintenance requirements by enabling cells to be topped-up quickly, safely and accurately, maximising the battery's useful life.
Saft's well established global operations will support Hitachi throughout the design and assembly phases in both Japan and Europe.
This support will continue for future maintenance operations while the CTRL trains are in service, extending for a period of about 15 years, when the batteries will be collected and recycled.
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