ABB Supports Chinas First 100% Low-Floor Light Rail Vehicle Exports

ABBs high-efficient and reliable traction system powers the light rail vehicles

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced that it has provided leading traction systems for the five 100% low-floor light rail vehicles that CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company (TRC) manufactured for Samsun, Turkey. These were the first 100% low-floor light rail vehicles to be exported by a Chinese car manufacturer.

A low-floor light tram is a train with a floor height below 40cm and might be of two types: 70% low-floor and 100% low-floor, in terms of the proportion of low floor sections. The 100% low-floor designs represent the highest technical requirements. The innovative 100% low-floor light rail vehicles developed by TRC perfectly fill in the technical gaps between Chinas tramcars and trains for subways.

Low Cost, Flexible Construction, Low Noise

A low-floor light rail vehicle features a number of advantages, including low cost and flexible construction and low noise, offering an environmentally friendly, fast, and convenient passenger experience. Meanwhile, with a maximum capacity that is 6-8 times that of a bus, a low-floor light rail tram is recognized as not only a new vehicle for city tourism, but also a promising way to address urban traffic problems. Light rail vehicle tracks can be built on existing roads and the construction cost will be 1/4 to 1/3 that of metro lines. It is regarded as an advanced and green transport system. 

For the deal, ABB provided complete traction system solutions, including traction converters, train control & monitoring systems (TCMS), and traction motors. The traction system converts grid power to propulsion power and to auxiliary power for onboard equipment, and is recognized as a core technology for railway trains.

The ABB traction converter is recognized for its unique modular designs, enabling the components to be installed in a highly compact way and making the equipment very easy to maintain. The converters roof-mounting maximizes the train space, which is critical to 100% low-floor light rail vehicles. By applying the best-efficiency equipment control strategy and minimizing equipment size and weight, ABBs traction solution successfully lowers the loading of trains and therefore saves power consumption. 

ABB traction solutions have been widely used in key projects around the world, in cities such as Lyon, Munich, Nuremberg, Geneva, New Jersey, and Seattle. 

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 19,000 employees, 36 local companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 90 cities.