Slovakia, India: One of the major global players in the rail infrastructure diagnostic market, TVEMA, has completed certification tests of the ECHO-COMPLEX ultrasonic system for ŽSR, which took place in the Czech Republic, and diagnostic systems for Indian Railways are at the acceptance stage.
The ECHO-COMPLEX diagnostic system passed certification tests for compliance with the EN 16729 standard in the Czech Republic in mid-July. The SEVER-1435 diagnostic vehicle with this system was ordered by the ŽSR national railway company of Slovakia, and recently have been moved to Bratislava to complete dynamic and braking tests in accordance with the TSI requirements.
As to VP for business development of TVEMA Maksim Tarabrin, ŽSR will receive a total of 2 SEVER-1435 self-propelled vehicles in different versions. One is designed for rail testing, has two units and an operating speed of up to 120 km/h, it is equipped with ultrasonic and eddy current flaw detection systems, as well as a system for video monitoring of the rail surface. The second one is a track measuring vehicle, single-unit, has an operating speed of up to 160 km/h, a track measuring system, systems for monitoring the geometry and corrugation of rails, the clearance, and can in the future be retrofitted with a videoinspection system for the permanent way.
Tarabrin notes that SEVER-1435 was originally designed as a diagnostic vehicle, including the possibility of installing various measuring systems under the body frame and on the roof. The engines are of undercarriage design, which makes it possible to allocate more space in the interior for the needs of the crew along the entire railcar length (more than 25 m).
The basic model of SEVER-1435 has acquired TSI certificate earlier as a part of TVEMA delivery to Serbia. Certification tests of the two-unit SEVER-1435 version for ŽSR have already been successfully completed, and it is expected to receive an updated certificate by the end of August, followed by the approval for permanent operation on the ŽSR network. TVEMA expects to complete the work and hand over the machine to the customer in October this year.
The diagnostic coach with Integrated Track Monitoring System by TVEMA for India. Source: TVEMA
A contract between TVEMA and Indian Railways is also underway in India. So, 3 sets of ITMS (Integrated Track Monitoring System) are being accepted there now. These systems are the analogue of the equipment installed on Sprinter-Integral trains supplied by TVEMA to Russian Railways. ITMS includes equipment for track and rail geometry measurement, clearance, as well as an advanced automatic video inspection system for the permanent way elements, which has no analogues in terms of functionality and performance. The manufacturer claims that these systems are capable of monitoring more than 120 different parameters at speeds up to 200 km/h. According to Maksim Tarabrin, the acceptance process is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
