Friday 6 November 2009
Technology & Research

MODBRAKE Final Conference & Demonstration (Turin, 28 October 2009)

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MODBRAKE is a European project in FP6th program ending 31st of October 2009.

Standardisation can contribute to efficiency for the Railways and recently heavy changes appeared in the regulatory framework. As Operators we expect a reduction of costs sustained by RU due to scale economy effect arising from standardisation and allowing an easier possibility to interface sub – systems and devices.

The results of the different Work Packages were presented during the conference and the web-site www.modbrake.com can give you many precise information.

An important input of MODBRAKE is the description of the main technical parameters of a standard named AGTU (Air Generation and Treatment Unit for High Speed Trains). This description will become a TecRec and the basis of future norm. In addition two devices are also studied for standardisation:

- drivers brake handle/controller;
- emergency brake push button.

After the presentation of the results in the different Work Packages, a discussion was launched by Jean-Marie Bodson (Alstom), Dario Barberis (Faiveley Transport), Manfred Walter (Knorr-Bremse), Alessandro Palazzolo (UIC/Trenitalia S.p.A.), Bernard Von Wullerstorff and Hélène Köpf (UNIFE). The fruitful exchange of views concerned the benefits, the potentials and the challenges for standardisation.

During the visit in the laboratory of POLITO, participants have had the opportunity to discover some applications of MODBRAKE as:

A test bench:

A brake handle:

A standardized system for bogie brake components:

Participants to the Conference have also pointed the fact that the contribution between partners (Operators and Industry group) has created a collaborative group laying the foundations for a future cooperation e.g. in TecRecs. This collaboration will follow in common UIC-UNIFE Working Groups reaching the necessary consensus in the standardization process.

For more information please contact Francis Delooz: delooz@uic.org

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Alessandro Palazzolo (UIC-Trenitalia) presenting the targets for Operators
A test bench
A brake handle
A standardized system for bogie brake components