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The increasing prospects for greater utilisation of rail in freight
transportation in Malaysia arising from a modal shift from road to rail has
open new possibilities for innovative technological system to cope with the
demand.
One company that has seized this window of opportunity is Windhoff, the
German-based company that has produced CargoSprinter.
Cargo Sprinter is a product of a fast-changing rail freight environment.
“It is a self-propelled, ‘container train’ which is able to move between 5
TEUs to 30 TEUs,” said Sim Soon Chai, the manager of Benima Engineering Sdn
Bhd, the local agent for the Windhoff.
CargoSprinter train essentially consists of a self-contained unit, readily
capable of being separated for maintenance and repair.
The modular design of each unit enables a train of up to seven
CargoSprinters to be formed, in just a few minutes.
Actual physical tests have shown that this procedure can be reduced to three
minutes.
This advanced solution which offers the speed and flexibility required by
the market, permits speedy and efficient coupling of units to form trains up
to 630 m long, said Sim.
The other important feature of CargoSprinter is that when the train reaching
the common way point along their routing, the individual CargoSprinter units
can be uncoupled with the same ease to continue their journey to their final
destination.
This may be a cargo distribution centre, a container terminal or a private
siding.
“Users can run the Cargo Sprinter train, split it at the terminal and
reconnect the set on the return leg. Because there are two locos (one at
each end), you need less infrastructure at sidings. Faster terminal
turnarounds also ensure our utilisation is higher. Cargo Sprinter has strong
potential as an effective port shuttle," said Sim.
Windhoff will be displaying its innovation at the 1st Asia Railway
Conference & Exhibition 2005 to be held 24-25 April in Petaling Jaya.
The conference will be open by the Minister of Transport.
Sim said Windhoff believes that the introduction of the CargoSprinter could
be instrumental in achieving the railways’ target to increase the cargo
movement speed from one location to another and using existing lines.
In fact the CargoSprinter’s effective travelling speed of 120 km/h is well
above the achievable speed of road trucks on the congested road networks.
Plans are in pipeline to raise the speed level to 160/km per hour.
“The volume of freight traffic is expected to double over the next ten to
fifteen years. We know that rail can offer a solution to the ever-increasing
amount of road traffic congestion. However, rail will not be in a viable
position to compete with the road trucks unless there is a radical change in
approach. In view of that we have developed CargoSprinter which represents
the only immediately available alternative solution with promising potential
for today’s and future cargo transportation,” said Sim.
The rail infrastructure can become more competitive by meeting the
logistical demands using the price-competitive CargoSprinter solution. This
solution is adaptable to both long distance and regional rail networks thus
enabling progress to be sustained in the coming years.
In fact Windhoff’s vision challenges conventional thinking in rail that big
is always beautiful. Long trains require huge crossing loops and large
terminals; often in land-starved environmentally sensitive urban
communities. In view of that Windhoff has developed CargoSprinter said Sim.
CargoSprinter permits consecutive and uninterrupted traffic between rail
sidings or decentralised freight terminals. Coupling of up to seven
CargoSprinter train consists with an individual length of 91 m is executed
in a matter of minutes. The automatic train couplers, denoted type ZAK, at
the two driving units enable positive and secure coupling of the
CargoSprinters.
The driving units feature two bogies; the innermost axles on each bogie are
powered. Each drive unit is powered by two drive modules making a total of
four units for each pair of driving units.
The drive train comprises the diesel engine driving a fully-reversable
5-speed automatic transmission with torque converter and ‘lock up’ feature,
to transfer a total power of 1060 kW to the rail wheels and also meets the
stringent EURO Norm II exhaust pollution regulations. |
