The world’s fastest rack-and-pinion railway has been unveiled.
The operator of the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway (MGBahn) and manufacturer Stadler have developed a new braking system known as ‘v+’ (velocity-plus, meaning ‘higher speed’).
This system has been installed on Stadler’s ORION multiple-unit train, a cogwheel (or rack) train which uses a toothed rack rail and cogwheels to climb very steep slopes.
v+ enables trains to travel downhill at speeds of up to thirty kilometres per hour. This is significantly faster than the 21 km/h downhill speed limit previously applied to ORION multiple units.
The new system also applies enhanced braking force, which brings the train to a stop within the required specifications.
The newly-equipped vehicle is now running on the Andermatt – Göschenen line in the Swiss Canton of Uri. The line has a gradient of 181‰.
As a result of the technological upgrade, passenger journeys now take four minutes less time, a major improvement on the previous journey time of fifteen minutes. This allows MGBahn to run its half-hourly service on the Andermatt – Göschenen section with just one vehicle in rotation rather than two.
The Matterhorn Gotthard Railway and Stadler say that for the time being, they will use the time savings stabilise the timetable and ensure better connections.
MGBahn and Stadler worked together to develop the new rack-and-pinion braking system, aiming to use existing technologies to enable more frequent and reliable train services. They used one of the latest multiple-unit trains supplied by Stadler to MGBahn as the prototype for the project. The federal government of Switzerland provided financial support, and the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) authorised it.
Now that the new braking system has been successfully commissioned, MGBahn will proceed to equip its existing eleven, and all twenty-five of its newly-ordered, ORION multiple-unit trains with the v+ technology.
Stadler recently secured an order for its locomotives from another Swiss firm, the Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Company.
“The new rack-and-pinion braking system offers significant added value for both railway operators
Christoph Leiterer, Head of Engineering for the area Tailor Made at Stadler
and passengers. This innovative system enables shorter journey times, more efficient intervals,
and consequently, more stable timetables. From now on, other rack railways can also benefit fromand use the new innovative braking system for new purchases. Today, we celebrate innovation. A heartfelt
thank you to MGBahn for their outstanding collaboration.”
Responses
There is a limit to how fast rack railway systems can operate and this is down to the mechanical interaction between the rack on the track and the interlocking gear on the train. Go to fast and vibration becomes a problem, with the danger that the rack gear interface allows the gear to climb the rack if too much force and too little weight is applied to it. This brake improvement will put extra force into the interface, the brakes on rack rail systems are already very effective due to the direct mechanical connection between rack and gear wheel, the gear wheel is mounted on the live axle that has the braking system on it.