ABB has been contracted to deliver a complete traction chain to upgrade 19 CFR Călători locomotives in Romania.
This retrofit project will enable the locomotives to operate with greater energy efficiency and reliability.
Under the contract, ABB will supply new transformers, converters and electric motors to support the locomotives in reaching top speeds of 160 km/h, compared to the current 120km/h.
This upgrade will be delivered in partnership with Reloc, a local contractor that specialises in overhauling and modernising locomotives in Romania and the general Balkans region.
“We are delighted to be working with Reloc on this critical retrofit project that helps put CFR on track to eventually allow its passenger trains to run at a top speed of 160 km/h versus the current 120 km/h . Boosting the reliability of CFR’s locomotives will be key to this success as each one is expected to clock up some 278,000 km a year. That is where ABB’s capability to provide the complete traction chain, fully tried and tested for tough conditions, really creates value.”
The 19 5100-kilowatt (kW) locomotives are operated by CFR Călători, Romania’s state-owned railway passenger transport company.
Through this project, the operator aims to ensure Romania’s locomotives have high levels of energy efficiency and reliability to align with European standards.
Currently, the country’s ageing public transport infrastructure and equipment means that passenger trains operate at an average speed of only 40 km/h. To help overcome this issue, the locomotive upgrade project is being funded by Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), supported by the EU.
Each of the locomotives will be retrofitted with a traction transformer, two CC 1500 MS traction converters and six AMX 500 traction motors.
This project will increase the traction power of the locomotives to 6 MW. What’s more, drive train efficiency will be improved by around 5 percent, while energy savings of 15 percent are expected to be achieved through the recuperation of energy during braking.
