China: The German producer has won a contract for the delivery of 3 high-speed HSG-city grinding trains to operate in the southern part of city’s urban transport system.
According to Vossloh, the key feature of the HSG-city is the availability to use the trains in couple with electric traction unit and so to avoid the use of diesel engines. Also HSG-city includes a dust extraction system, which vacuums dust into the integrated bunker. According to Vossloh, the train is able to operate up to 30 km without emptying the bunker. It makes them suitable for use in tunnels. Vossloh notes, that the rotating grinding wheels of the train provide minimum sparks.
HSG-city’s operating speed is declared up to 60 km/h. While the train is in operation the wheels can be changed, as they are mounted in a revolving grinding unit. So there is no need for timetable adjustments or line closures, states Vossloh. During grinding HSG-City removes only the hardened surface layer that allows to extend the life cycle of rails.
HSG-city is already used in LRV systems of Dusseldorf and Rostock in Germany, the Beijing Metro in China and the Copenhagen Metro in Denmark. Source: vossloh.com
It is planned that HSG-city train will in the future also include a function of diagnostics and will be equipped with measuring and testing technology that measures the longitudinal and cross-sectional profiles as the machine passes over the rails. The data will be available for the customer via the Smart Maintenance app. But it is not stated officially, will HSG-city for Shenzhen include such a feature or not.
Shenzhen has one of the busiest metro systems in China: in 2019 it had 2 bln annual ridership (5,5 mln riders per day on average). Currently, the network has more than 400 km of tracks and is to be extended to over 1,000 km by 2030.
The HSG-City train was developed by Vossloh in 2014 and has already been operating in Germany (LRV networks of Dusseldorf and Rostock), in the Beijing Metro in China and the Copenhagen Metro in Denmark. Also before the new rail line in Sofia, Bulgaria went into operation in late August of 2020, HSG-City gave the rails an initial grinding to prepare them for service. Vossloh has received orders for 8 HSG-city trains from China in the last 12 months, states the company.
