Newsletter December 2024
Advancing Railway Energy Meter Calibration: New Milestones in Metrology
Thanks to the successful completion of the EMPIR 16Eng04 MYRAILS project in 2021, the French (LNE), Spanish (FFII), and Italian (INRIM) national metrological institutes developed a state-of-the-art calibration bench for the entire measurement chain of electrical energy (EMF) in railway systems, accommodating both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) systems.
Building on this foundation, as part of the ongoing e-Treny project, the consortium is extending these metrological capabilities to deliver innovative calibration services for energy meters. INRIM has recently expanded its capacity to generate and measure direct current up to 3600 A, enabling the calibration of railway energy meters for 3 kV applications with a simulated power output exceeding 12 kW. This advanced setup not only supports accurate calibrations but also allows the replication of voltage and current profiles that energy measurement systems experience in real-world scenarios.
Exploitation and uptake activities
INRIM, in collaboration with the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (a partner in the e-Treny project) and HaslerRail Sécheron, participated in a public consultation organized by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. This initiative focuses on developing an onboard calibration bench for periodic testing of railway energy meters directly on trains. Such an approach marks a critical step in the technological transfer of research conducted under the MyRailS and e-Treny projects into practical applications.
This progress underscores the growing importance of accurate metrological tools in modern railway systems, ensuring both operational efficiency and compliance with emerging standards.
e-Treny Measurement Campaigns: Advancing Railway Metrology in Madrid and Hannover
As part of the ongoing e-Treny project, two critical measurement campaigns are scheduled for Winter and Spring 2025. These campaigns will take place at Metro Line 10B in Madrid during the winter and at the tramway power substation in Hannover in the spring. Both initiatives aim to refine energy measurement and monitoring systems, advancing the project’s goal of delivering state-of-the-art metrological solutions for railway applications.
Madrid Metro Campaign: Winter 2025
The first campaign will be conducted on Line 10B of the Madrid Metro, where a reversible substation operates. The objectives of this campaign include monitoring of the energy flow in all the 5 five substations supplying the line. Collecting data to support the optimization of energy efficiency and usage in urban rail networks. This campaign will involve close collaboration with Metro de Madrid, Università della Campania, INRIM, FFII and Università degli studi di Genova to ensure that the solutions developed address real-world challenges faced by metropolitan transit systems.
Hannover Tramway Campaign: Spring 2025
The second campaign will take place at a tramway power substation in Hannover, managed by Üstra Hannoversche Verkehrsbetriebe AG. The primary goal is to conduct on-site measurements of the energy efficiency of the power conversion chain supplying the DC tramway system. The setup will evaluate the losses in the 10 kV/450 V, 2 MVA power transformer and the Hesop-Alstom AC/DC converter, which facilitates energy recovery during braking.
A key scientific challenge will be measuring these losses with a target uncertainty of 10%, even under distorted and low-load conditions. Additionally, the campaign will include monitoring the storage efficiency of the battery stack installed at the substation.
The on-site activities will be conducted by VSL, UTwente, VTT, and INRIM, in close collaboration with Üstra and Alstom. This campaign represents a significant step in advancing the accuracy and reliability of metrological solutions for urban rail systems.
Standardization action
Thanks to the direct involvement of the e-TRENY coordinator in WG 37 of the CENELEC TC9X, which is devoted to the review of the EN 50463 standard, and in the IEC TC9 maintenance team, which is devoted to the review of the IEC 62888 standard, the e-TRENY consortium, in collaboration with the Italian National Committee CEI CT9, has promoted a new action to introduce a section describing type tests for the integrated EMF (Energy Measurement Functions). The proposed changes will also be discussed with the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) to verify compliance with the current technical specifications for interoperability. If necessary, a review of the directive will run.
