Belgian rail operator makes substantial savings through better planning

That good planning is important has been experienced personally by Belgian freight transport company SNCB Logistics.Since improving the route preparations done by drivers, the carrier says it has reduced energy consumption by as much as 25 per cent.

Fifty goods trains, about a third of the total number of trains, have been equipped with an energy meter since 2013 in order to measure energy consumption. After journeys are better prepared in advance, energy consumption has dropped dramatically. Bart van der Spiegel of railway manager Infrabel's Energy Management reports on spoorpro.nl: "The energy meter measures electrical energy and ensures that energy savings also effectively lead to a lower energy bill." The more conscious driving meant that trains encountered 72 per cent fewer double yellow or red signals, reducing extra stops.

Better trip preparation
Drivers should mainly pay attention to the number of times the train has to stop. This in view of the braking and acceleration of heavy trains. The train drivers now mainly pay attention to the height difference on the route, any disruptions on the route and data from the energy meters. During the journey, drivers can use this data to determine in this way whether they should drive faster or instead let the train roll out quietly instead of braking. "By driving less briskly, the trains use less energy. They stop less often and don't pull up as fast. Drivers anticipate an anticipated reduction in speed and roll out quite a bit. Braking is slower, allowing a larger part of the energy to be delivered back to the catenary. So much less energy is consumed," Van der Spiegel said.

Next step
Belgians want to go further in reducing energy consumption and are going to use a Traffic Management System (TMS). "This TMS identifies in advance where trains will clash. The traffic controller can then propose an alternative himself. This is immediately calculated. So the timetable is adjusted realtime."

Editorial LogistiekProfs