The European innovation project IN2STEMPO was recently completed, which focused on identifying intelligent solutions to manage energy for railway systems and the stations of the future.
A total of 19 partners, consisting of various companies operating in the sector, public administrations and universities and research centres, took part in this five-year project which forms a part of the framework of the Shift2Rail, Horizon 2020 programme.
Amongst these is CAF T&E which has worked on developing smart monitoring systems and carrying out thorough investigations into energy flows on the railway system.
"Energy management and condition-based maintenance are key factors in the development of optimal, safe and sustainable solutions".
Colleagues in our technology and R&D department have spearheaded the application of smart metering at parking and maintenance facilities, and on commercial operation lines. The Zaragoza Tram has been used to perform these tests, the energy infrastructure of which CAF T&E currently maintains. Accordingly, through the use of sensors, data has been collected to develop energy saving strategies and various assets have been analysed with a view towards applying predictive maintenance techniques.
The results are used to apply these solutions to future projects so that, by means of data management and the data's subsequent processing and analysis, these solutions can be used to improve operation and maintenance services. Accordingly, they will be used to continue working on and developing simulation tools to optimise the operation and design of the railway infrastructure.