A Sustainable and Green Rail System

DESTINATION 4 – A sustainable and green rail system

In order to improve the existing sustainability performances of railway systems, new innovative products and services need to be developed, tested and deployed. On the basis of leading-edge technologies to minimize the overall energy and resource consumption and environmental impact of the railway system, the aim of this destination is to accomplish a more attractive and climate resilient mode of transport. With the cooperation of the whole European rail value chain, the target is to optimise performances, stimulate the modal shift and improve passenger experience. Given the level of investments needed towards decarbonation of the overall rail system, the R&I activities will contribute to the objective of a Climate Neutral Europe for 2050. This means:

• Innovative solutions to minimise environmental footprint of the overall rail system., including less resource-intensive materials (infrastructure, rolling stock and operational).
• Holistic approach towards generation, storage and optimal use of energy in the infrastructure connected to the European energy network.
• Innovative approaches to design and use, focused on increased capacity and modularity of solutions (tools, manufacturing processes and efficient use of resources).
• Systems improvement including electro-mechanical components for low consumption, low emissions, low noise and low vibration levels.
• Healthier and safer subsystems such as air-filtration, disinfection systems and eco-friendly HVAC technologies.
• New designs of rolling-stock especially modular interiors for a more adaptative, attractive and economically sustainable railway transport for passengers and supported by industrial standards.

The selected proposal for funding under this Destination will be a Flagship Project of Europe’s Rail with significant expected impacts, which require an integrated sector systemic approach. Proposals, should therefore set out a credible pathway (including an exploitation plan) to contributing to all of the following expected impacts as described in the Master Plan.

These can be further detailed with specific impacts of this destination, as:

• Reducing energy consumption. The continuous technologies evolution leads to significant decrease of energy consumption. Acceleration towards a zero CO2_e emission rail system.
• Bosting alternatives to the use of fossil fuels are unavoidable for the overall European rail system. Every potential solution, mainly energy storage system and hydrogen (H2) have to be considered.
• Defining the industrial standards that will support the need to demonstrate and prove rail as the greenest mode of transport, easing the transformation of the rail system in a circular economy model while ensuring resilience to external risks, such as climate change.
• Regarding the attractiveness of the vehicles, shared concepts and the relevant industrial standards will ease quicker and greener transformation of the European rail vehicles.

Proposals under this Destination should set appropriate monitoring and demonstration activities to measure the following KPIs:

Expected Outcome:

Building upon the work achieved in the S2R Programme and other research and innovation, the Flagship Project stemming from this topic should deliver solutions for the holistic approach to:

• Energy and equivalent CO₂ savings in the rail system, covering:
• Developments oriented towards a more integrated and standardised Rail Power Smart Grid, integrating greener energies ^{_{[Study on the use of Fuel Cells and hydrogen in the railway environment, available here: https://shift2rail.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Study-on-the-use-of-fuel-cells-and-hydrogen-in-the-railway-environment_final.pdf]}}, cutting peak of energy consumption and allowing for a better control, and management.
• Developments oriented towards a better energy management not only at station level but also providing more intelligent and integrated control systems and allowing for a larger energy flexibility and resilience of the Electrical Smart Grid.
• Circular, sustainable solutions contributing to a resilient rail, covering: 
  • Technologies, systems and materials for a more sustainable, less resource-intesive and extreme hazard resilient by design (including climate change related issues) of railway infrastructure/assets and rolling stocks, oriented towards the whole life cycle of the assets.
  • Guidelines for the design/rehabilitation of modular stations according to size and uses oriented towards the reduction of the carbon footprint for the whole life cycle.
• A healthier, safer and more attractive railway system, covering: 
  • HVAC ^{_{[Results from Shift2Rail activities should be taken into account: public deliverable in PIVOT2 Project available here: https://projects.shift2rail.org/s2r_ip1_n.aspx?p=pivot2 (D18.4 Fundamental work on HVAC)]}} at the vehicle level with improved management of air flow and integration of health management measures in the rolling stock, for a European deployable solution.
  • Passenger flow management integrating health and safety measures.
  • Industrial standards for easing the quick adaptation of interiors by modularity with the integration of bio-sourced materials and circularity of the assets.

The Flagship Project stemming from this topic should deliver, by 2025, innovative and resilient solutions to be demonstrated by:

• Alternative energy solutions for the rolling stock _{^{[The action to be funded under Destination 4 shall foresee a common activity/task related to the capturing of specific requirements stemming from the action to be funded within the Clean Hydrogen JU, in relation to hydrogen solutions, and the partnership BATT4EU concerning batteries]}} at TRL6, covering: 
  • High performances Batteries Electric Multi-Unit (BEMU) train (reaching TRL6/7);
  • Hydrogen hybrid trains with test of heavy-duty inspection vehicle and loco for freight-passengers ;
  • Sub-urban catenary trains with on board Energy Storage Systems (ESS);
  • Auto adaptive train energy consumption to various services situations;
• A holistic approach to energy in rail infrastructure (design, production, use and intelligent management), at TRL6, covering: 
  • Rail Power Smart Grid in different systems as well as the integration of energy storage⁷ solutions;
  • Application of solutions for the production, storage and refuelling of hydrogen for railway vehicles on the example of a prototype refuelling station _{^{[The action to be funded under Destination 4 shall foresee a common activity/task related to the capturing of specific requirements stemming from the action to be funded within the Clean Hydrogen JU, in relation to hydrogen solutions, and the partnership BATT4EU concerning batteries]}};
• Sustainability and resilience of the rail system in a holistic approach to asset management, delivering more value: 
  • Development of solutions and models for the reduction of noise and vibrations from railway infrastructure and rolling stock _{^{[Results from Shift2Rail activities should be taken into account: public deliverables of TRANSIT Project available here: https://projects.shift2rail.org/s2r_ipcc_n.aspx?p=S2R_TRANSIT (Deliverables 2.1 and 3.1)]}} and to predict the effect of degradation, of maintenance and of noise perception (TRL6) as well as ensuring resilience to external risks, such as climate change;
• Improvement of electro-mechanical components and sub-systems for the rolling stock, at TRL6, covering: 
  • Technological solutions for the migration to the airless train: Electro-mechanical braking system _{^{[Results from Shift2Rail activities should be taken into account: public deliverables of PIVOT Project available here: https://projects.shift2rail.org/s2r_ip1_n.aspx?p=pivot (Deliverables 5.1 and D5.8); PIVOT2 Project available here: https://projects.shift2rail.org/s2r_ip1_n.aspx?p=pivot2 (Deliverable 9.5); and CONNECTA Project available here: https://projects.shift2rail.org/s2r_ip1_n.aspx?p=CONNECTA (Deliverables 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.5)]}} and novel electro-mechanical pantograph and suspensions;
  • Optimised motors and gearboxes, high performance bogies, suspensions and new materials;
  • Eco-friendly HVAC system technologies;
  • Aerodynamic certification with experimental and numerical methods;
• Healthier and safer rail system, covering: 
  • Simulation tools for improving the air quality in trains, stations and tunnels (reaching TRL7);
• Attractiveness, at TRL5-6, covering: 
  • Modular rolling stock interiors providing new design and new architectures (including drivers’ cabin), respecting PRM requirements and enhancing accessibility where possible.

In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- Annual Work Programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions up to TRL 8, and where possible 9:

• integration of technical enablers for high performances BEMU trains to enhance standardised and interoperable batteries charging interfaces and data protocol to ensure cost efficiency;
• scalability of H2 refuelling station solutions and energy storage applications;
• airless train components’ evolution and technologies used for the reduction of noise, weight and energy consumption;
• preparation and/or simulation of the integrated demonstration in real environment of modular rolling stock.

The action to be funded under this Destination also needs to be provide the following necessary elements for the demonstrations under the action to be funded under the Destination 6, Regional rail services / Innovative rail services to revitalise capillary lines to be delivered for 2025 demonstrations: enablers 1, 2, 3 and 4 as described under the Scope section of this Destination. In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of FA6 demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions, linked with the same enablers at higher TRL.

The action to be funded under this Destination also needs to be provide the following necessary elements for the demonstrations under the action to be funded under the Destination 1, Network management planning and control & Mobility Management in a multimodal environment to be delivered for 2025 demonstrations: enablers 4 and 5 as described under the Scope section of this Destination, in addition to providing DAS/C-DAS and energy management experts input for the optimization methods for capacity efficiency and energy saving. In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions, linked with the same enablers at higher TRL.

The Flagship Project stemming from this topic should develop the following capabilities:

Alternative energy solutions for the rolling stock

Development, validation and demonstration of traction system components, including related innovative and standardised functions, to improve technical, environmental, circular economy and LCC KPIs. To demonstrate the feasibility of the results of the innovation, the technical enabler will be applied in static test bench and real demonstrators of:

• • Enabler 1: Trains with on-board Energy Storage Systems. High performance and high efficient Batteries Electric Multi-Unit (BEMU) trains with long autonomy (80km baseline and over 200 km targeted) and sub-urban catenary trains with high level of braking energy recovery and energy autonomy (TRL 6/7 to be achieved in 2026).
• Enabler 2: Hydrogen hybrid trains: infrastructure inspection/maintenance heavy duty vehicle and loco for freight-passengers at TRL 5/6 (powered with gas H2 or liquid H2).

Holistic approach to energy management in the railway system

The increased use of renewable energy sources (RES), energy storage devices and the smart energy management will improve the global mobility decarbonization and the energy efficiency of the railway system. Within this Destination, this approach will be done through:

• Enabler 3: The application of solutions for the production, storage and refuelling of hydrogen for railway vehicles on the example of a prototype refuelling station. Development of a standard refuelling interface using algorithms to ensure optimum time and safety of the process as well as provide scalability and future growth of the refuelling station depending on the demand for hydrogen with TRL6 targeted in 2025.
• Enabler 4: Integration of various sources in different systems (e.g. 25kV AC, 1,5/3kV DC), of renewable energy, energy harvesting technologies, superconducting, breaking energy recovery, etc, as well as the integration of energy storage with TRL6 targeted in 2025.
• Enabler 5: Solutions for the optimal energy management in the whole power system, covering traction and non-traction demand including stations as energy hubs and integrated in a smart grid under the market rules and targeting at TRL5 in 2025.

Sustainability and resilience of the rail system to deliver added value on asset management

This Destination aims to provide solutions to foster environmental advantages of rail, reduce nuisances and addressing resilience on the whole life cycle through:

• Enabler 6: Adaptation to climate change with the development of a tool on European climate variables usable for railway assets, considering risk assessment reports and the benchmark of existing solutions to accelerate the lowering of environmental footprint targeting TRL5 in 2025 to implement adaptation strategies.
• Enabler 7: Development of noise indicators, simulation tools and development of optimised components and optimised maintenance regimes for noise and vibrations, aiming at TRL6 in 2025, taking also into account different climate conditions in the EU.
• Enabler 8: Methodologies and guidelines for the optimal design/rehabilitation of station layout including modularity oriented towards carbon footprint reduction to be validated at TRL5/6 in 2025.
• Enabler 9: Development of tools and indicators to promote eco-design, assess environmental performance improvements and ensure standardized reporting of the environmental impacts of the rail sector at TRL5 in 2025.

Improvement of electro-mechanical components and sub-systems for the rolling stock

The technological solutions for the migration to the airless train will require high performance bogies, gearboxes, suspensions, and materials. This destination will achieve those improvements by:

• Enabler 10: Developing and introduce to the market electro-mechanical braking system, pantograph and suspensions while targeting energy savings on the involved subsystems and reduce associated maintenance costs by reaching TRL6 for 2025 and prepare for later evolutions.
• Enabler 11: Introducing optimised motors and gearboxes, high performance bogies, suspensions and new materials following circular economy principles and reaching TRL6 in 2025.
• Enabler 12: Delivering alternative technologies to replace hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants by HVAC system using green refrigerants or new cooling technologies with reduced energy consumption and targeting TRL6 in 2025.
• Enabler 13: Introducing enhanced experimental and numerical methods at TRL6 on aerodynamic certifications by 2025.

Healthier and safer rail system

The demonstration of novel systems and technologies to include enhancing the air quality by air purification and air distribution while addressing the thermal comfort and air quality (virus, bacteria, volatile organic compounds and fine particles) to guarantee a platform independent approach by:

• Enabler 14: Specific sub-demonstrators to be set-up, each of them contributing to the overall goal of the demonstration of a healthier environment in the rail vehicle, for both new designs of future trains and refurbishment of existing trains and targeting TRL7 in 2025.

Attractiveness

This destination is expected to develop rolling stock interiors designed by modularity, plug and play fixation systems by innovative low-tech, circular design and comfort aspects, as well as to develop new architectures for driver’s cabin to reach TRL5-6 in 2025. Within this Destination, the demonstrations will be supported on:

• Enabler 156: The facilitation of on-demand comfort for users such as access, lighting, thermal and acoustic conditions as well as with new architectures to increase passenger capacity and target TRL5-6 in 2025.
• Enabler 16: The facilitation to adapt rolling stock with refurbishment and innovative concepts to support the increase of capacity of the rolling stock targeting TRL5-6 in 2025 and prepare for later evolutions.

Developments on all those 16 enablers should also cover important preparatory works with higher TRL for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions.

The action shall actively contribute to measure and monitor the specific quantitative KPIs defined in the Destination description above, including its contribution to the Europe’s Rail Master Plan impacts.

The action shall actively contribute to the EU-Rail standardisation rolling development plans wherever relevant. Similarly, the action shall contribute to the development and implementation of EU policy and legislation including Technical Specifications for Interoperability and Common Safety Methods, as well as to publications of the System Pillar.

Collaboration work required with other FAs

The action to be funded under Destination 4 shall foresee a common activity/task related to capturing specific requirements and review of system specifications relevant to the actions to be funded under Destination 1 and Destination 6.

Interaction with the System Pillar

The System Pillar aims to guide, support and secure the work of the Innovation Pillar (i.e. to ensure that research is targeted on commonly agreed and shared customer requirements and operational needs, compatible and aligned to the system architecture), and the Innovation Pillar will impact the scope of the System Pillar where new technologies or processes mean that innovations can drive a change in approach, as well as delivering detailed specifications and requirements.

In this respect, the necessary resources would have to be dedicated to areas linked to System Pillar conceptual and architecture works – particularly addressing specification development (the interaction is illustrated in the System Pillar – Innovation Pillar interaction note (Annex VI of this Work Programme). The alignment of the activities will primarily take place during the Grant Preparation Phase and ramp up phase of the awarded proposal, and there will be continued interaction through the life of the project.

Gender dimension

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

Activities are expected to achieve a minimum between TRL 5 and TRL 7, depending on the enabler addressed, or higher by the end of the project – see General Annex B for a guide to the TRL definitions and criteria to be used.

Digital Agenda