Deutsche Bahn is speeding up the Europe-wide introduction of ‘whisper brakes.’
The ‘Europe Train,’ which has been travelling throughout Europe since December, arrived in Berlin last week after putting a new type of whisper brake – the LL block – through its paces before it goes into series production.
Made up of various types of freight car, carrying all kinds of cargo and commissioned by several European rail operators, the test train is being monitored by engineers and technicians.
It will have covered a total of 200,000 kilometers before the test program comes to an end at the beginning of 2012.
It has been through the icy cold of a Scandinavian winter, and now the hot summer temperatures of Italy lie ahead. At the same time, the effects of different topographic conditions are also being tested.
The LL brake block has the potential to halve rail noise produced by conventional freight trains.
Unlike the K block, which also reduces noise levels by half, the LL brake block can be retrofitted to an existing fleet at significantly reduced cost.
“Noise reduction in rail freight is at the top of our agenda,” says Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Member of the Management Board of DB ML AG responsible for Transportation and Logistics.
“We are counting on continuous growth in rail freight transportation. Acceptance on the very busy corridors requires that we also provide active noise control at the source.”
Professor Klaus-Dieter Scheurle, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, emphasised at the presentation of the Europe Train:
“Noise is one of the biggest problems for the acceptance of traffic. The quantities of goods transported on rail are increasing, but in many places people living along the lines are at the limit of what they can take – or have gone beyond the limit.
“We take the people’s concerns seriously and are investing in more noise control on both the tracks and the freight cars.
“We are funding the ‘Quiet Freight Traffic’ pilot project, for example, by equipping freight cars with noise-reducing brake systems at a cost of €20 million. That is one step on the way to achieving our goal of reducing noise by 50% on severely affected routes by 2020.”
