ABB has won orders worth about $55 million from Swiss train manufacturer Stadler Rail for equipment that will help to maximize the reliability and energy efficiency of rolling stock for two Swiss rail operators.
ABB will deliver specially designed traction converters with integrated onboard power supplies as well as traction transformers and battery chargers for 28 double-decker trains to be delivered to BLS, the biggest private railway company in Switzerland. Traction products convert electricity from overhead power lines to the voltage levels needed by the trains’ motors and a host of auxiliary power systems (lighting, heating, ventilation, automatic doors etc.).
ABB will also deliver traction converters and traction transformers to SBB Cargo, the freight unit of the Swiss Federal Railways, for 30 shunting locomotives, which couple carriages and wagons. The new shunters are versatile hybrid locomotives with a supplementary diesel motor to power the drive chain on lines that are not electrified. They excel in reliability and energy-efficiency.
“This contract clearly demonstrates ABB's special combination of leading-edge technology and rail industry expertise,” said Ulrich Spiesshofer, head of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Motion division.
The orders, booked in the fourth quarter of 2010, continue the highly productive business cooperation between ABB and Stadler Rail.
ABB has a long history of providing reliable, innovative and energy-efficient technologies to the rail sector, manufacturing and servicing all the systems, subsystems and components used in modern urban, conventional and high-speed rail networks. This includes rail infrastructure and components for rolling stock, as well as signalling, and telecommunication systems.
Increasing concern for the environment, rapid urbanization, the need to move more people and freight faster, especially in emerging economies, as well as volatile fuel prices, make rail one of several high-potential growth industries ABB has specifically targeted for its power and automation technologies.