Machine vision to support autonomous trains 17 Jan 2019 CHINA: US-based visual perception technology company PerceptIn has worked with rolling stock manufacturer CRRC to develop a long-range machine vision device for high speed trains which it says can automatically detect obstacles up to 1 000 m ahead, providing autonomous driving systems with the time needed to…
Posts published in “Current railroad news”
Shift2Rail publishes 2019 call for proposals 16 Jan 2019 EUROPE: The Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking issued its 2019 call for proposals on January 16, with €77m of co-funding available to support railway research & innovation projects expected to have a total value of €150m. S2R is funded as part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.…
Wheelchair ramp on test 15 Jan 2019 UK: Greater Anglia has worked with design consultancy Trainways and manufacturer Portaramp to test a prototype wheelchair ramp, ahead of the entry into service of its new fleets of Bombardier Transportation and Stadler trainsets. Testing included consultation with people with assistance animals to ensure the ramp meets a…
Competitive Freight Wagon deployment to be planned 11 Jan 2019 EUROPE: Wagon leasing company Ermewa is to draw up a deployment concept for innovative wagons to support the business case for investment in vehicles which are being developed under the Competitive Freight Wagon research initiative. Backed by the EU Shift2Rail research programme, the Competitive Freight…
NS to test contactless card payment 09 Jan 2019 NETHERLANDS: National passenger operator NS is to test the use of contactless bank card payment as an alternative to the OV-chipkaart national multimodal transport smart card. NS said using a bank or credit card for travel was a ‘logical and easy’ choice for many people, as…
Breeze UK hydrogen multiple-unit proposal unveiled 07 Jan 2019 UK: Alstom and leasing company Eversholt Rail have unveiled their ‘Breeze’ proposal to convert surplus Class 321 electric multiple-units to hydrogen power. The 25 kV 50 Hz Class 321 EMUs which were built by BREL in 1998-90 are scheduled to be withdrawn by the end of…
Rio Tinto completes AutoHaul autonomous train project 04 Jan 2019 AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto has announced the successful deployment of its AutoHaul technology for the autonomous operation of iron ore trains in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, creating what the mining company said was ‘the world’s largest robot and first automated heavy-haul, long-distance rail network’.…
East Japan Railway tests driverless operation 03 Jan 2019 JAPAN: East Japan Railway is testing automatic train operation on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo, with a view to assessing the feasibility of converting routes to driverless operation. The 34·5 km circular route was selected for testing because it does not share tracks with other lines.…
Concrete Canvas eliminates weeds at Rotterdam inspection point 02 Jan 2019 NETHERLANDS: Concrete Canvas geosynthetic cementitious composite matting has been installed on sections of track at the Rotterdam World Gateway site to prevent the growth of weeds which could obstruct the optical character recognition systems used to identify containers on passing freight trains Concrete Canvas…
Improved passenger information 31 Dec 2018 UK: West Midlands Trains is to equip 50 Siemens Class 350 Desiro EMUs with real-time passenger information systems developed by KeTech and Axion, which will include 22 inch screens. Deployment is planned between May 2019 and May 2020. ‘This new system will be a great improvement on what our…