IEEE Electrification Magazine - September 2016 - 52

TECHNOLOGY LEADERS

The Challenge of Managing
the End of the Life Cycles of
the High-Speed Rolling Stock
By Ignacio Barrón de Angoiti

HEN A NEW HIGH-SPEED
railway (HSR) is planned,
one of the most important
elements to consider is the economical and social balance of the systems.
For this, the life-cycle cost (LCC) of
the principal components is something essential. Obviously, the extension of the LC for each element is a
clear indicator of the total amount of
LCC, and, in the case of rolling stock,
this extension is depending on many
different factors: type of train, type of
components, type of operation, infrastructure, maintenance policy and its
cost, technology evolution, etc.
In Europe, the LC for the HSR rolling stock traditionally considered has
been 30 years (probably by actually
thinking in economical aspects or, as
a tradition, extrapolating from other
type of rolling stock), while, in Japan,
it is just 17. The fatigue of the train's
body shell is the explanation for this
big difference of LC, because the cross
section of the tunnels for HSR lines in
Japan (Shinkansen) is very strict and,
consequently, each time a train passes through a tunnel, an important
compression and decompression is
produced, like in airplanes, and
necessitates the reduction of the
pressure inside the cabin. This cycle
repetition, hundreds of times a day,

W

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MELE.2016.2594418
Date of publication: 2 September 2016

52

requires a careful analysis of the
fatigue phenomenon in Shinkansen
trains and, generally, is obliged to
regularly renew the fleet.
This continuous renewal of the
fleet permits an almost continuous
incorporation of new technologies
(any possible innovation can be easily incorporated), implies important
conditions to the maintenance policy
(and consequently to the maintenance cost), generally avoids big
maintenance operations, etc., but
also requires an accurate investment
plan (other than a recycling materials
plan, because recycling HSR trains for
other purposes or for other countries
is not evident). In Europe, the main
characteristics of the infrastructure
and the conditions for the operations
permit longer LC and, consequently,
require a modernization at around
the middle of the life.
Since the first HSR trains started in
Europe in 1981, a significant percentage of the present fleet is getting too
old and, in some cases (e.g., French
Railways), an operation to get these
trains a complementary life extension
is planned, probably to reach up to 40
years or even more. The problem is
how to accomplish the renewal of a
fleet of approximately 100 trains that
went into operation in 1981 and
approximately 110 more that started
in 1989. We can provide some ratios,
just to get an idea of the magnitude.

IE E E E l e c t r i f i c ati o n M agaz ine / SEPTEMBER 2016

A European manufacturer can
supply a certain operator one or two
(and, exceptionally, more) trains per
month, including test and homologation processes. The cost of a typical HSR train in Europe (200 m,
350-400 places, 300-330 km/h) represents €30-32 million (20 years ago,
the costs for a similar train was
€22  million). The maintenance cost
for one such train operating under
typical conditions (500,000 km/year)
can be €1-1.2 million/year/per train
set. We can conclude that, for some
European operators, facing the
renewal of a significant part of his
fleet and, at the same time, previewing an extension of the HSR network
and HSR services can represent an
important difficulty, especially when
they could be confronted with possible competition.

The Case of HSR in China
But now, let's go to China and have
a look at the impressive evolution of
HSR lines, trains, services, and stations. Chinese railway system actors
(operators, industry, and authorities)
spent approximately 15-20 years
developing their own concept for
HSR and getting their own technology ready. By learning from their
experience and benchmarking from
the experience of other HSR systems
(continued on page 50)



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - September 2016

IEEE Electrification Magazine - September 2016 - Cover1
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IEEE Electrification Magazine - September 2016 - 1
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