Innovation for regional rail services and new guided transport systems

Expected Outcome

Building upon the results of S2R, Europe’s Rail FP6-Future and Pods4Rail projects as well as EU-member states rail research and innovation activities, the action stemming from this topic is expected to contribute to provide sustainable, attractive and passenger centred solutions to regional and suburban areas by developing light weight and cost efficient rolling stock and an automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures”.

Workstream 1: Flagship Area 6 Rolling Stock cluster

Work-stream 1 aims at further developing a regional railway vehicle which is a small lightweight vehicle based on the results of EU-Rail FP6-Future[1], adapted according to numerous specific requirements influenced by the different lines and the corresponding categories of regional lines (e.g. topography, passenger capacity, etc.). The key objectives are the cost reduction and adaptation to the corresponding infrastructure of capillary lines (poor superstructure, narrow curves etc.). These factors have a high influence on the mechanical and electrical architecture of the vehicle and thus on the car body design and the running gears.

To ensure the alignment with the key objectives, close monitoring will be implemented using key performance indicators (KPIs). Within FA6 a set of High level KPIs has been identified, targeting the main impacts foreseen for the Flagship Area.

• Reduced vehicle CAPEX & OPEX through innovative and lighter design: The vehicles for low-density lines must be designed to deliver the service at these lines at a significant lower CAPEX/OPEX: • Targeting 50% reduced CAPEX and OPEX, in a LCC perspective.

• Notwithstanding the previous KPI, passenger vehicles development should aim for step changes in weight reduction and track force reduction, while being tolerant to higher unevenness of the tracks: • up to 60% for some parts of the vehicle and up to 30% of weight reduction for the vehicle.

Work-stream 2: Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures”

This work-stream should further develop an Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System system design, based on the results of the EU-Rail Pods4Rail[2] project which defined the foundations for such a system. Design concepts for the Carrier on rail but also on road and conceptual design of a selected sample Transport Units, as well as for components and equipment for the Transport Units were drafted.

This work-stream should specify the technical requirements of the main subsystem of a pod system with specific focus on the Carrier, Transport Unit and the Handling System. The focus should remain on the railway application, however, intramodality should be ensured by considering road and ropeway carriers.

This workstream should further work on the development of the Mobility Management System already started in the Pods4Rail project and to further detail the technical basis for the autonomous operation of the system, including the investigation of system components of the Mobility Management System in a laboratory environment.

In addition, the political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental (PESTLE) consideration of the realisation of a pods system should be assessed as well as developing concepts for integration into existing multimodal mobility environment.

Scope

The project stemming from this topic should develop under the following capabilities the enablers and any other which may contribute to deliver the afore-mentioned expected outcome:

Workstream 1: Flagship Area 6 Rolling Stock cluster

This work-stream should develop a virtual concept design for lightweight modular regional vehicles for both G1 (Group 1: regional lines with significant connection with mainline) and G2 (Group 2 regional lines with no or limited connection with mainline) lines (TRL4/5) based on the technical parameters defined for solutions developed in FP6-Future D5.1[3] coming from additional requirements collected from regional rail operators and considering potential dual use operation ( civilian and military purposes). The virtualisation should focus on the following not extensive list of key vehicle components such as the car body, running gear and powertrain.

• • Car body • virtual model of the car body concept using a cost-effective, sustainable and lightweight design approach which also considers the use of e.g. multi material design and fiber reinforced polymers with specific focus on mechanical performance (e.g. according to EN 12663), crash-worthiness (e.g. according to EN 15227) and functional structure e.g. by 3D printing (combine weight reduction with vehicle functions). The comparison between a design for G1 lines and G2 lines (e.g. for G2 without crash scenario with different trains) is intended here to analyse potential lightweight construction and cost-saving potentials of this application-specific design. Input for the activities must be based from public Deliverables of FP6-FutuRe D5.1
• virtual model of selected component (e.g. front end cab) made of innovative materials (e.g. with natural fiber reinforced polymers) with new production technologies (e.g. based on tooling technologies with additional use of sustainable materials).

• Running gear • Based from public Deliverables of FP6-FutuRe D5.1, for G1 application, virtual model of the relevant mechanical part of steering, track-friendly, requirement adapted, highly integrated motorized single axle running gear supporting vehicles by implementing active suspension systems with and without compressed air system.

• Powertrain • Based on the activities carried out in FP6, further develop virtual model of the drivetrain incl. range-extender solutions (modular, scalable energy storage system, hydrogen system, power electronics, traction machines) for optimising energy requirements for G2 lines taking into account the interface to the battery recharging infrastructure and their locations. Variable auxiliary loads (e.g. heating, air conditioning and compressed air) should be included in the system design and energy functions for different operating conditions defined, considering several different conditions such as altitude, distance and temperature.

The action should demonstrate the safety with an appropriate safety assessment method. In addition, it shoulddemonstrate the benefit deriving from the new vehicle concept on Society Reediness (SR), on weight and energy consumption reduction as well as on cost saving both for CAPEX and OPEX in a quantitative manner. The results should support European standardisation activities to ensure a broad market uptake coming from the new vehicle concept.

Develop, test and validate the following components considering a small vehicle concept for G1 lines up to intended environment:

• • Based on the virtual concept design, validation of the mechanical lightweight performance of a representative, structural section of the car body in the highly loaded area above the running gear including destructive tests on a test bench. (TRL4/5);
• Based on the virtual concept design, physical Demonstrator with alternative materials as a significant part of the front end cab (TRL4/5);
• Validation of selected vehicle dynamic performance indicators of the single axle running gear concept supporting vehicles without compressed air system to be realised by 1:5 scale model of the running gear to be tested on a scaled roller rig. In addition, the advantage of active wheelset steering to be demonstrated and validated. Comparison with the simulated performance in the virtual demonstration. (TRL4/5);
• Physical demonstration of a running gear with independent rotating wheels (TRL6);
• Test the battery electric solutions for the powertrain incl. range-extender solutions for situations where the availability of charging stations is limited and longer range than batteries can offer is needed. The tests should include traction machines, power electronics and electric energy storage to verify the energy savings and the benefit of split power traction machines and regenerative energy capacity with respect to the charge level dependent power limitation of the electrical energy storage which will be carried out in a test bench with the use cases defined in D10.1. (TRL4/5).

Work-stream 2: Automated Multi-Modal Mobility-System with “moving infrastructures“

• Development of the Carrier: • Detailed specification and interface definition for Carrier-Components, e.g., running gear, energy supply, drive technology, and equipment for autonomous driving, further enhance the concept design based on the preliminary work of Pods4Rail (TRL3);
• Safety study on “Active versus passive safety” for Rail carrier for structural design to derive recommendations also for lightweight design;
• Due to the intermodal aspect for the pod system, design validation of the carriers for ropeway, road and rail based on structural boundary conditions should be carried out (TRL 3).

• Development of the Transport Unit (TU) • Study on manufacturing conditions and processes e.g. additive technologies and sustainable materials for different TU based on the design concept developed in Pods4Rail and based on the safety aspects and most promising use cases based on the preliminary work of Pods4Rail;
• Development and simulation of the TU structure using sustainable materials in lightweight design considering the load cases based on the preliminary work of Pods4Rail (TRL3/4);
• Validation of mechanical design, safety aspects, ergonomics and user experience for one passenger Transport Unit (TRL4).

• Detailed requirement definition for a multipurpose handling system taking into consideration the work carried out in Pods4Rail (TRL 3/4).
• Validation of different loading scenarios in industrially relevant environment, such as joint loading with a passenger and cargo TU, interface design positioning tolerances and coupling system design (using a real scale Transport Unit Mock-Up) (TRL5).
• Mobility Management System and automation • Optimised and high-performance Pods operational management for intermodal environment (such as rail and road) and communication (TRL3/4);
• Digital maintenance planning of the TU, Carrier, Handling Systems, location for storage and infrastructure with the consideration of digital maintenance planning and results from asset condition assessment and predictive maintenance coming from Flagship Area 3 for operations management (TRL3/4);
• Operational flow analysis concept integrating pod systems into the intermodal transportation environment rail, road and ropeway.

• PESTLE analysis • Design concept study for intermodal connectivity at stations, hubs and logistical hubs, especially for rail, road and ropeway (TRL2);
• Proposal for industrial roadmap for Transport Unit;
• Characterisation of the normative framework and discussion of the boundary conditions to be created for the realisation of a pod system, based on the “Legislative and normative framework analysis” from Pods4Rail (D3.1) [4];
• Reevaluate the work done in Pods4Rail (D4.3) [4] based on the pods system defined within the project and further detail the economic analysis of the system;
• Reevaluate the work done in Pods4Rail (D5.1 and D5.2) [4] based on the pods system defined within the project and develop quantitative Business Case Studie(s);
• Carry out an environmental impact assessment based on the benefit that the pods system brings to an intermodal transport network;
• Develop a system architecture for the overall pods system including subsystem; description and the interfaces between the subsystems based on Pods4Rail results (D2.1) and based on developed requirements and specification defined in the project. System architecture shall be assessed against key customer criteria: reliability, efficient handling, affordability, accessibility, comfort.

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Activities are expected to achieve a minimum between TRL 4 and TRL 6, depending on the enabler addressed, or higher by the end of the project – see part B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 General Annexes for a guide to the TRL definitions and criteria to be used.

[1] https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/fp6-future/

[2] https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/pods4rail/

[3] https://rail-research.europa.eu/pages/fp6-future/deliverables

[4] https://pods4rail.eu/#deliverables

[5] https://pods4rail.eu/#deliverables

[6] https://pods4rail.eu/#deliverables