Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V.
Changes for the Better – Introducing Mitsubishi Electric
This article first appeared in the Railway-News Magazine Issue 4 2023.
Railway-News’ Keri Allan recently had the pleasure of speaking with Taketsugu Matsumoto, European Business Unit President Transportation Systems at Mitsubishi Electric, where he discussed the company’s plans for Europe, its stand-out projects and its focus on sustainability and circular engineering.
Keri Allan: Please can you tell me about Mitsubishi Electric Europe Transportation Systems – your company’s heritage and what you offer to rail companies in Europe?
Taketsugu Matsumoto: Mitsubishi Electric is a leader in transportation systems and solutions for trains. We design and produce customised solutions and integrated systems for rail manufacturers. Our main focuses are on propulsion with our traction motor (where we hold a leading position globally), safety, which includes our world-leading train control management systems (TCMS), comfort – our heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and sustainability and energy-saving solutions.
Today we’ve equipped 60,000 rail vehicles with key electric and electronic components in 36 countries, and we can provide up to 50% of a train’s vital components.
Our roots are in Japan, where Mitsubishi Electric Corporation was founded over a century ago. What’s different about us is that we’re an independent rail equipment supplier, which means that we seldom rely on external suppliers for subsystems or components. Our engineers design, develop and build systems in house.
KA: Any new or ongoing projects you can tell us about?
TM: We’re currently working on our first contract in France, where we’ve just completed the dynamic testing of our system for the next-generation CAF-built Oxygène intercity train for SNCF.
This project consists of traction motors, converter-inverters and main transformers using natural aircooling technologies for 28 trains. Mitsubishi Electric is actually the first company worldwide to supply such roof-mounted converters and inverters with natural air-cooling systems, which lowers operational costs.
