A year after the successful completion of “Railenergy”, the collaborative European rail research project which provides tools and recommendations for energy saving in the electric traction infrastructure, an online tool is now offered to explain how to use the tools and standards.
UIC offers this Railenergy e-learning platform comprising electronically-supported learning and teaching. E-learning supports the computer and network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge – therefore helping members to gain experience about successful UIC projects more easily – and saves costs by reducing business travel for meetings and training courses.
The two new Railenergy e-learning tools, co-financed by the European “Skillrail” project, explain how to use the Railenergy calculator application as well as the UIC/UNIFE Technical Recommendation TecRec 100_001). The tools use videos and animations as part of an easy and understandable approach to the complex topic of energy calculation.
Learning about the RAILENERGY calculator
The Railenergy calculator is a software-based decision support tool for the assessment of various energy efficiency strategies for the main decision-makers in the railway sector.
The tool helps system integrators assessing technologies to be used in future competitive rail vehicles and infrastructure components. Likewise, railway operators and infrastructure managers will benefit by being able to evaluate the operational, technical and strategic investment opportunities for energy efficiency solutions within procurement, leasing, operation and maintenance of railway systems.
The strategic evaluation is based on a simplified cost benefit/cost effectiveness methodology including a strong lifecycle perspective. The tool enables the optimal mix of energy efficiency strategies to be defined at either vehicle or network level, with respect to energy efficiency and costs (e.g. investments, payback time) regarding both possible techniques as well as uncertainty in the planning process (future traffic) and tariffs.
Learning about TecRec 100_001 “Specification and verification of energy consumption for railway rolling stock”
Technical Recommendation 100_001 is a direct output of the RAILENERGY project and applicable for the specification and verification of energy consumption railway rolling stock. The criterion for the energy consumption of rolling stock, as set forth in the present document, is the total net energy consumed – either via the rail pantograph or from the fuel tank – over a predefined service profile, which is either taken from the future operation of the train, or according to a standardised typical profile valid for the specific service category of trains. This method secures directly comparable results by and representing the real operation of a train.
The general purpose of this Technical Recommendation is to provide a comparative framework to evaluate energy performance values for train sets or locomotives on a common basis, thereby benchmarking and improving the energy efficiency of all types of rail vehicles.
