Pioneering innovations for increasing rail-bound freight transport

How can more freight transport be re-allocated from road to rail? Knowing that rail-bound freight transport can only be made more competitive with new automation solutions, Siemens TS came up with the CargoMover as an innovative contribution to solving this problem. Equipped with intelligent sensors for detecting the guideway and obstacles and controlled via mobile radio from an operations control center, the driverless CargoMover is equivalent to a fully automatic truck on rails and is especially suited for transport commissions at short notice, above all in regional transport. The CargoMover is thus opening up totally new perspectives in the field of freight transport by rail.

"The CargoMover combines the best of two transport worlds", said Hans M. Schabert, Group President of Siemens TS, when the test vehicle was presented at the Siemens Wildenrath Test Center on December 18, 2002. "It has all the huge advantages associated with rail: it is environment-friendly, saves energy and helps to take the pressure off our roads. But the CargoMover also enables individual and flexible transport to the siding track of the receiver at very short notice", continued Schabert. He presented the CargoMover for the first time, live and in action, to trade and business press journalists from Germany and abroad, together with Friedrich Smaxwil, another member of the Group Executive Management.

Thanks to intelligent rail automation and communication solutions from Siemens TS, individual transport by rail could soon be a reality. The CargoMover, conceived for regional transport and distances up to 150 kilometers, has a wide range of applications: it can travel autonomously and directly from one siding to another, it can be integrated in factory and port transport systems, used for marshalling, combined with other CargoMovers, perform feeder functions for container and combined-transport terminals nationally or internationally, or can be used in a shuttle service for just-in-time delivery. At an average speed of 70 kph and with a comparable diesel engine, power consumption with the CargoMover would be approximately 30 per cent lower than a truck due to its lower rolling resistance.

Automatic train operation without conductor is already possible in metro systems. What is new about the CargoMover is not only that it handles freight transport automatically but also that it can use the gaps in the timetable of normal traffic in open rail networks and, with the help of an intelligent operations control system, can find its way to frequently changing stations or sidings as its destination. The sensors used on the CargoMover for detecting the guideway and obstacles on the track ensures safe and driverless operation.

Five radar sensors detect relative speeds and the distance from objects, for example, from other trains, and are independent of daylight and the weather. A video camera for track detection supplies black-and-white images in the format 768 x 576 pixels. The vehicle clearance envelope is determined on the basis of the extracted video data and the information provided by the pivoted laser scanner. A second laser scanner sweeps the area in front of the vehicle at a height of 50 cm, thus enabling the vehicle to react quickly to obstacles on or next to the track. The information acquired by the three sensor systems is compiled in a data fusion computer and supplies the signals for vehicle control.

As a result of this configuration, the vehicle can automatically detect obstacles up to a speed of 30 kph and can then stop in good time - usually seven meters before the obstacle. This enables driverless marshalling operations with uninterrupted safety.

During normal operation at 80 kph, the CargoMover - like any other train - is also dependent on the operations control center. "In order to enable automatic operation of the CargoMover, we upgraded the test track in Wildenrath so that it now represents the latest state-of-the-art in railway automation technology", explained Friedrich Smaxwil, who is responsible for rail automation at TS. "All the points and derailers on the test ring and on the other test tracks for the CargoMover are controlled by an electronic interlocking. In turn, the electronic interlocking is linked up to an operations control center where all aspects of process control are carried out."

The interlocking technology and the S21 Eurobalises (fixed data balises) as well as the comprehensive GSM-R infrastructure (Global System for Mobile Communications - Railways) used in the test center are the basis of the first closed test track for Level 2 of the European Train Control System (ETCS). For the CargoMover, this means dispensing with conventional signaling and safety systems and operating with direct communication between the vehicle and the operations control center via GSM-R, including position detection via GSM-R and synchronization by means of balises.

The test phase has demonstrated that the CargoMover can guarantee a reliable, driverless freight service during normal operations, with interaction between on-board equipment and modern train control systems (components based on ETCS).

The time needed from the start of research work to the complete demonstration vehicle was less than two years. The CargoMover thus represents the integration of Siemens TS in the Siemens Network of Innovation, an apparatus for efficient collaboration with internal and external partners for the generation of innovations. Those involved in the project included the Institut für Schienenfahrzeugtechnik (Institute of Rail Vehicle Technology) of the RWTH technical college, Aachen, for the mechanical aspects of the vehicle, the University of Braunschweig for the computer systems, various departments of Siemens TS in Braunschweig and Erlangen for the train protection systems, the brakes and the interlockings, Siemens Information and Communication Mobile for the GSM-R digital mobile radio network and Siemens Corporate Technology in Munich for all the sensor equipment.
Pictures of the CargoMover can be found at: http://www.siemens.com/ts-pictures/03-007