A new energy-efficient ‘EcoTram’ is undergoing live testing along the streets of Vienna.
The Siemens-built light rail vehicle (LRV), which will operate on Line 62 until the end of May next year, has been fitted with several potentially revolutionary prototype components designed to significantly reduce energy consumption.
With heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems potentially accounting for 40 per cent of a tram’s total energy consumption, the success of EcoTram’s energy-efficient systems could lead to a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of tramways around the world.
These trials alone are expected to save operator Wiener Linien 3,000 MWh a year – a figure Siemens described as equal to that of a small town.
Software developed by the Automation and Control Institute at the Vienna University of Technology (TU) monitors the heat and humidity inside the tram and automatically activates the heating or air conditioning accordingly.
The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) has sponsored the project as part of the “New Energies 2020” scheme. Other partners included Rail Tec Arsenal which conducted the tests in the climatic wind tunnel,Vossloh Kiepe which supplied the heating and air conditioning units and SCHIG which is responsible for the project as a whole.
