New Dependable Rolling Stock for a More Sustainable, Intelligent and Comfortable Rail Transport in Europe

The ROLL2RAIL project aims to develop key technologies and to remove already identified blocking points for radical innovation in the field of railway vehicles, as part of a longer term strategy to revolutionise the rolling stock for the future.

The high level objectives of the work are to pave the way to:

• Increase the capacity of the railway system and bring flexibility to adapt capacity to demand
• Increase availability, operational reliability and therefore punctuality of the vehicles
• Reduce the life cycle costs of the vehicle and the track
• Increase the energy efficiency of the system
• Improve passenger comfort and the attractiveness of rail transport

Specific developments are proposed the scope of ROLL2RAIL:

• Basis of a radically new traction technology based on emerging electronic components leading towards more energy-efficient traction, which is lighter and more reliable while reducing the noise emitted
• New wireless technology applied to train control functionalities will allow more flexible coupling to increase line capacity
• Carbody solutions based on lightweight composite materials to reduce weight
• A way of quantifying the life-cycle cost impact of new technological solutions for running gear
• Knowledge database of the variety of requirements in Europe for the braking systems to bring down barriers to step-change innovation in this area
• Standardised methodologies for assessing attractiveness and comfort from the passenger’s point of view
• Methodology for noise source separation techniques allowing implementation of novel and more efficient noise mitigation measures

It is also the objective of ROLL2RAIL to serve as a preparation for a fast and smooth start-up of the large scale initiative SHIFT2RAIL. All ROLL2RAIL results will ultimately lead to demonstration in real vehicles or relevant environments in SHIFT2RAIL.