Russia: New Yermak electric locomotives manufactured by TMH’s plant in Novocherkassk all come equipped with the ISAVPRT-M smart system, a 2021 feature that uses virtual coupling for driving freight trains. Now the Russian railway network can’t do without it, as it boosts the throughput capacity of main lines.
Demand for the technology
Russian Railways is seeking to increase the throughput and carrying capacity of its current mainline network, a mission of utmost importance because the company’s success is the bedrock of the country’s economy and industry development rate. Its current infrastructure just isn’t enough to meet the transportation requirements for the ever-growing cargo volumes.
There is more than one way to increase throughput capacity. The Baikal–Amur Mainline and Trans-Siberian Railway are enjoying the construction of new railroad tracks. The locomotive complex is adopting automated systems. With one of such technologies, freight volumes have skyrocketed since the mid-2000s due to automated coupled freight trains featuring an interconnected brake line. Basically, two trains weighing a standard 6,300 t each are linked into one single train of 12,600 t under the control of the ISAVP-RT automated train driving smart system, a solution developed by AVP Technology. The system controls the slave locomotive in the middle via the master locomotive at the head of the coupled train. All commands from the master to the slave locomotive are relayed via radio channel. This technology was dubbed rigid coupling.
Rigid coupling has had a great track record, especially when the trains move in both directions on the same track. But it does have some restrictions and limitations: it takes a long time to get a coupled train ready for its journey.
Basic idea behind rigid coupling. Source: TMH vektor
AVP Technology decided to improve rigid coupling in 2017. As communication needed enhancing, they wanted to make a stable radio channel relaying messages for locomotives that are at least six km apart. The company researched and developed everything it needed in 2017–2018, deploying virtual coupling, a significant upgrade from rigid coupling that removed all constraining limitations, on the Far Eastern Railway in January 2019. Satisfactory test results inspired the company to integrate the ISAVP-RT-M system into over 400 3ES5K mainline locomotives in 2020.
The solutions applied
With virtual coupling, two or more freight trains can travel as close to each other as possible. They can now run a yellow light at the highest speed possible. There’s deep data behind the technology: the locomotive ahead, i.e., the virtual master, relays the movement info to the locomotive behind (the virtual slave).
The ISAVP-RT-M smart control system is integrated into the virtual slave locomotive. No aspect goes unnoticed, and everything is under control: location, speed, steering modes, and train traffic light readings from the virtual master train. The virtual slave train reads multiple parameters at once: speed and location of the virtual master locomotive, train weight, track layout and profile, you name it, so it adjusts the speed and distance from the master train accordingly. The main challenge is to ensure it is always safe, especially when the situation calls for lower speeds or red traffic light.
Steering modes are switched according to just how efficient the braking system of virtually coupled trains is at the moment. Automatic train operation is exactly what it says in the name: the system operates freight trains automatically, and operator’s involvement is limited to automation control.
With virtual coupling, locomotives decide how to pass through this or that section, and they don’t need people to do that for them. The virtual slave can see if the train ahead stops/moves and if the section has a train moving in front of the master train, and plan accordingly. There’s also the energy consumption aspect, and it’s the lowest possible. The automation system analyses the route and makes decisions, changing steering modes and applying regenerative braking.
Basic idea behind virtual coupling. Source: TMH vektor
Virtual coupling came to the rescue when rigid coupling couldn’t, a boon that helped overcome many challenges that no longer exist. With the technology, the developers connected trains moving in the same direction, with the communication now reliable and stable. They gather telemetry data on locomotive movement and component status and relay it to Russian Railways’ information systems. They can also predict the traffic light from location and steering mode alone. The credit for all that and more goes to Russian engineers.
When asked about the new technology, As Vladimir Andreev, Head of the Technical Policy Department of Russian Railways, said that the Baikal–Amur Mainline and Trans-Siberian Railway have been enjoying virtual coupling for a while now, and they’re perfectly content with the way it works. There are now actually more trains, shorter intervals, and higher speeds.
Latest results
35,863 train pairs enjoyed virtual coupling in 2023. The company integrated the ISAVP-RT-M systems into over 1,500 3ES5K locomotives at the Baikal–Amur Mainline and Trans-Siberian Railway and counting. The technology can be deployed on any modern traction rolling stock. TMH’s plant in Novocherkassk started mass production of the Yermak electric locomotives with the ISAVP-RT-M system. But it’s not a feature that only new trains get to enjoy: the existing DC and AC traction rolling stock accepts the smart system right at the depot.
Virtual coupling info (enlarge). Source: TMH vektor
Virtual coupling is beneficial, and here are some of the advantages it has. First, it increases the throughput capacity of railroad sections, so 15 additional pairs of trains can pass per day. Second, it improves traffic safety, automates the movement of trains on the wrong tracks, and lightens locomotive crews’ burden. If we stick to the current railroad infrastructure development rate, then we might see at least a 15% increase in throughput capacity, experts say.
Prospects of the technology
The technology offers so much potential. Virtually coupled trains move regularly, while AVP Technology and Russian Railways engineers continue working on increasing the number of virtually coupled trains travelling simultaneously.
September 2023 marked an extremely vital moment for the history of virtual coupling: five trains ran on the Far Eastern Railway for the first time. The trains were empty, weighed 9,892 t, and travelled more than 1,100 km with the of only nine minutes. November 2023 raised the stakes considerably: five trains, not empty this time, ran on the Khabarovsk–Ruzhino section, carrying a total of 26,663 t, all of them virtually coupled.
It was such a roaring success that Oleg Belozerov, CEO of Russian Railways, was happy to share the news with Russian President Vladimir Putin in January 2024, “Basically, five trains that are virtually coupled see each other and move according to each other’s location. Two of them are container trains, and the other three are empty. But they total over five kilometres, namely, 5,250 m. There are only four kilometres between them, but it’s just the beginning. Besides, it encourages us to make the most of the infrastructure we built. We made sure to count everything, and it came to a total of 21 km”.
The current priority of the company is to virtually couple more trains at the same time. They’re also seeking ways for locomotives and station control system to exchange information and data more quickly; this would cut the time it takes for an average technological operation to run. The objective is important because a typical modern locomotive has no digital way of contacting the station.
The company will develop a data transmission network and Russian Railways control systems would use it to send data to the ISAVP-RT-M system. The system will automatically see to it that all technological operations are completed in the shortest time possible. AVP Technology has already tested it at the Ruzhino station in 2021. With the ISAVP-RT-M system using the route info it got from the station to adjust automated train operation, the train arrival procedure reduced by 40% compared to the manual train operation.
The company is determined to reduce intervals between virtually coupled trains and raise the number of trains running simultaneously. The experts’ ambitious plans also apply to any types of trains, passenger, freight, and suburban trains.
Author: Dmitry Tikhonov, Advisor to the CEO of AVP Technology (part of TMH Smart Systems)
Based on the Virtual Means Real, TMH vektor magazine 1 (56) 2024
