SPAIN: In moves intended to enhance the competitiveness of rail freight moving in and out of Spain, which requires a change of track gauge between 1 668 mm and 1 435 mm, infrastructure manager ADIF has called bids for the development of two innovative gauge-changing installations and of improved gauge-changing axles for freight wagons. Both form part of the Mercave project for the development of automatic variable-gauge systems for rail freight traffic which is 64% funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
The gauge-changer contract announced on January 7 is valued at €2∙57m and includes research and development work ‘to evolve current technology’, as well as to manufacture and assemble one fixed installation and another ‘portable’ one.
An evolving design
The aim is to develop more advanced versions of a gauge-changing device which has been installed at ADIF’s maintenance base in La Gineta northwest of Albacete. This formed part of a contract for development of variable-gauge axle technology awarded to TRIA and Azvi in 2015.
The latest contract covers design, manufacture, assembly and commercial validation tests, as well as commissioning and maintenance during the evaluation period. The fixed gauge-changer will remain in place after the commercial validation period, while the portable installation will be placed at ADIF’s disposal for use in different locations.
The two-year axle research contract valued at €5∙97m was announced on December 29 2021. Awarded to TRIA Transport Engineering & Technology, it covers research and development, manufacture, supply and testing of axles with wheels of different diameters that will be fitted to wagons drawn from ADIF’s own fleet of maintenance vehicles.
The contract takes forward research begun with the 2015 contract with Azvi and TRIA which covered development and supply of five axles for 920 mm diameter wheels and five for 760 mm diameter wheels as well as the La Gineta gauge-changer. The variable-gauge bogie design, known as OGI and fitted with EAVM 1.0 axles, has since been authorised for regular use under certain types of wagon by the State Agency for Railway Safety.
Two more variable-gauge axle designs will now be developed, EAVM 1.1 and EAVM 2.0. The contract entails manufacture of 150 EAVM 1.1 axles, 125 of them for wheels of 920 mm diameter and another 25 for 760 mm diameter wheels. Just 10 axles of the EAVM 2.0 design will be produced, five for each diameter.
The axles will be used for ‘operational commercial validation tests’ until the end of the test period in June 2023.
The final stage of the development project will entail formalising the contract covering patents and intellectual property and granting ADIF the power to grant sub-licences to make the technology available to axle manufacturers.
Both the axle development and the gauge changer contracts were possible thanks to aid granted by the Ministry of Science & Innovation. The agreement also covers funding of a technical feasibility study into the possibility of using variable-gauge axles on freight locomotives.
Growing rail’s market share
ADIF estimates that rail’s current share of the freight market in Spain is barely 2% when measured in net tonnes carried and 4∙5% in net tonne-km. Under the Mercancías 30 campaign, it is aiming to achieve a 10% market share by 2030, partly through the use of better gauge-changing technology. At the moment, changing the axles of all the wagons on a freight train at the Franco-Spanish border can take up to 6 h.
In the meantime there are signs that the Mercancías 30 campaign is starting to bear fruit, possibly also as a result of environmental concerns about road transport. Between January and November 2021, Algeciras port handled 30 607 TEUs that were carried by rail. This represents a 65% year-on-year increase and marks the first time that rail has moved over 30 000 TEUs a year through the port.
Variable-gauge technology for passenger services with their lighter axleloads has been well proven and ADIF hopes that further research and development will achieve similar success in the freight market.
