What do rolling stock teams do?
Before my recent work experience, I had little understanding of rolling stock and the tasks that had to be completed within this sector. This is a general overview of my understanding of “light rail” rolling stock after a week spent designing an inspection for a new tram design.
Rolling stock is made up of components that help it move, brake, suspend, stay intact, charge, join, propel, open, and cater to passengers’ needs. Light rail includes small rolling stock like trams, which have lower velocity and mass and exist only domestically (with some blurred boundaries). For a tram to exist, it must have a car body made from a strong malleable alloy such as steel, with crash-worthy areas to the edges away from passengers. The tram moves with only the bogie as a constant.
Other factors, such as the mechanisms for movement and power vary greatly. For example, energy can be supplied through the 3rd rail, catenary overhead line, energy storage, or hydrogen fuel cells on board. This energy can be made more efficient through adaptations in braking, one of the biggest energy wastes. Regenerative braking uses the motor as a generator within the system to provide the tram with further power to move, while rheostatic braking is less efficient as it merely transfers this electrical energy to thermal to be removed using transistors. However, rheostatic is still more efficient than frictional brakes. Rheostatic brakes are used when energy is lower (0.5mv2), therefore with lower mass or speed braking systems. Regenerative braking is more efficient for faster or heavier systems on the tram network. Energy has started to be transferred without catenaries as they’re not aesthetic, use space, and limit the abilities of nearby infrastructure and emergency services.
Another innovation is the variety of couplers available to connect different carriages. Couplers range in the method of connection (mechanical, electromagnetic, or pneumatic), their human input, the speed of collision they operate at, and even absorb some energy for crashworthiness through further pneumatic or elastic systems. For passengers, the designed light rail vehicles must accommodate disabilities as well as mechanical use and safety by the RVAR. Choosing specific train types also extends beyond the function, with importance placed on the length of the tram, platform height for passengers, and power type to work with the available infrastructure.
Overall, a multitude of factors go into the design, planning, production, maintenance, and use of light rail vehicles; this is what rolling stock does.
Faaris Haque
Image Credits:
https://assets.live.dxp.maginfrastructure.com/f/73114/843x562/f130e3f7e5/metrolink.jpg
