Russia: The leading company in the global aluminium industry has announced the appointment of engineering companies to conduct research and development activities.
RUSAL has confirmed that these activities will include consulting with Russian rolling stock manufacturers and metro operators. As the company informed ROLLINGSTOCK, the R&D project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year and will result in the development of a new full-fledged model of a metro car.
The project is aimed to develop the frame, car body, interior and exterior parts of a car model using aluminium alloys. Preliminary estimates indicate that the use of aluminium would result in a 2 t reduction in the weight of the car compared to steel, thus enhancing energy efficiency and providing an opportunity to install additional equipment. “Energy efficiency values, including electrical energy savings due to weight reduction, will be evaluated at a later stage of the project”, RUSAL told ROLLINGSTOCK.
The company has announced that the use of aluminium will result in a reduction in production time for a car builder and a return of up to 30% of the cost of rolling stock through the sale of the metal for recycling at the end of the service life for an operator.
TMH is currently the sole producer of metro cars in Russia. ROLLINGSTOCK analysts anticipate that the solution proposed by RUSAL will enable weight reduction by 5–7% when empty and by 3–4% when carrying passengers, in comparison to the metro cars currently produced by TMH. Furthermore, TMH has previously announced the development of a new generation of metro trains, which are scheduled for release in 2026 according to the Moscow authorities.
The feasibility of using aluminium car bodies for the Moscow metro was investigated in the 1970s. Despite the production of the I-type prototype metro cars, they did not offer any notable advantages over cars with steel bodies. Furthermore, the potential fire safety risks increased, leading to the decision not to proceed with their production. The next attempt to offer an aluminium version of metro trains in Russia was made in the mid-2010s. Moscow then announced an international competition for new-generation trains, with some participants proposing the use of aluminium. These were Siemens in collaboration with Russian Machines (as seen in the image) and CAF in partnership with Sinara – Transport Machines.
