POLAND: Hyperloop and maglev technology developer Nevomo is to use conventional wagons supplied by GATX Rail Europe to test its MagRail Booster concept for retrofitting existing rolling stock to enable linear motor propulsion.
The aim is to provide faster acceleration and additional power on steep gradients and to enable electric operation through tunnels which lack the clearances for overhead electrification equipment.
Nevomo says single MagRail Booster wagons would be able to operate independently without being connected to a locomotive, with potential applications for operation in terminals and industrial facilities where flexibility and automation is highly desirable.
Testing is to be undertaken on Nevomo’s test track at Nowa Sarzyna in Poland.
‘We are very proud to have GATX — one of the leading wagon lessors in Europe — as our partner for developing and testing the MagRail Booster technology’, said Stefan Kirch, Chief Business Development Officer at Nevomo, on May 8. ‘The first retrofits are already ongoing, and we will see the first fully electrified and automatic GATX MagRail Booster wagon on our test track this year.’
Jörg Nowaczyk, Chief Commercial Officer at GATX Rail Europe, said ‘the attractiveness of Nevomo’s MagRail Booster technology is an opportunity to upgrade existing railways, both in terms of the infrastructure and the rolling stock. This will enable railways to grow faster, grow their capacity, which is urgently needed for sustainable logistics, but at the same time to remain compatible and interoperable with current operations.’
