Current and Future Development of Electric Train - Essay Example

 Current and Future Development of Electric Train Introduction Railway systems have been adopted in nearly all countries of the world as a convenient means of transport. Particularly, new railways are being constructed in many large cities of the world in order to lighten burden of the environment and at the same time reduce traffic congestion. There has been also the introduction of the new trains besides the old ones. An electric train is an electrically powered train which is used in the hauling of unpowered wagons, powered by electricity in order to transfer the train (Day et al 1966). The first electric passenger train was designed in 1879 by a German Engineer Werner Von Siemens. The electric trains were easier to run and cleaner since they did not rely on coal as they source of power. The new electric train was mainly used in Boston, Chicago and New York. The electric train was shown at an international trade exhibition in 1879 in Berlin (Feedburner 2007). It was long before the electric train was used to carry passengers. The main advantages of electric train are that there is no pollution and less noise. The other advantages are that electrification results to higher performance, lower energy costs and reduced maintenance costs. The electric trains are quite as compared to the diesel trains and thus they produce less mechanical noise. The electrical trains also move easily on the tracks thus contributing to the reduced maintenance costs of the tracks (Duffy and Michael 2003). Current state of electric trains Japan has been one of the major countries which have played a big role in the history and the development of electric trains especially in the 20th and 21st century. It is the country which has pioneered railway technologies in the whole world. Currently, Japan has been able to build faster, more accurate and safer mass transportation systems earlier than any other country in the whole world. The current trains are faster, safer and accurate. The railway systems currently are more human friendly, more environmental friendly, more comfortable and faster. The electric trains have also meets the requirements for environmental conservation and energy conservation in conjunction with the movement of the people. There has been the computerization of the equipment which is used for train traction systems. This has contributed to the improvement of reliability, simplification of maintenance and saving labor. Train management systems have been introduced and this has accelerated management of information for the whole train system. Current electric trains use induction motor as the main driving motor, and improved AC for circuit semi conductor. The current train also uses VWF inverter as their main control unit. The achievements have promised and proved to be more reliable and cost effective in the running of the electric train. The current electric train uses JRIS transmission system which has made it realize world standard transmission protocol. Due to this fact, the current train has higher reliability system and also a higher speed. Today, there is the use of the air compressor unit and the air conditioning equipment which are both electronically controlled. The conditioning equipment particularly has been transformed in to a cooling unit that is easily controlled in accordance with the preferred for every power supply. This has improved service quality and comfort to passengers on trains. The current speed of an electric train ranges from 200 to 581km/hr. The current train also uses the circuit stimulator. This is an advancement of the microcomputer control features. The stimulator has improved the design verification technology. This advancement has been made as result of the former simulator having limited condition settings in terms of time and labor. There has also been the introduction of high speed processor which stimulates the main circuit and the load. The current stimulator uses the frequency of 50/60-Hz. Since the stimulator was introduced, there has been the improvement of design verification procedures. The current train also uses sensor less control system which does not have any speed sensor on the induction motor. Although favorable results are realized, there is a plan of introducing sensor control systems. Future Changes Electric train corporations have been busy trying to develop products which will result to the reduction of the weight and size of electric trains. They hope to reduce the size of the train and its weight thereby improving efficiency, reduce on maintenance cost, reduce operation noise and also reduce the environmental impact which results from different engineering angles. Another likely development in the electric train industry is the development of high frequency stimulators. Many electric train corporations are hoping to come up with trains which can carry more passengers and also with increased speed. In the near future, many companies are hoping to develop a new series of motor driven air compressors to be used for trains mainly based on the technology of air conditioning compressor. Upon development, the new series will be more reliable and will also use multi-compressor method. This will contribute to a large extent to the stability and safety of transportation. Upon realization of the future developments in electric train, Train transport will be safer and stable, efficient and there will also be the improvement of performance on the transport industry. One change that is likely to occur in the near future of electric train is the increase of the speed. Many corporations are trying to develop trains which can travel at a speed of 800km/hr. Development which is expected to occur as from 50 to 100 years will be to reduce the weight of the electric train by a half. The other development is to increase the speed of the train up 2000km/hr and increasing safety, comfort ability, and efficiency. Another change that is likely to occur is the development of a speed sensor less vector control technique whereby the motor frequency will be estimated from the current measurement of the induction motor and the inverter would be under the control without the use of a speed sensor. Impacts of the changes The changes which are likely to occur in the electric train industry are positive. This is because, there will be the reduction of noise pollution, transport will be faster with the increased speed and transport will be more comfortable especially with the introduction of air conditioning equipments. The changes will also enable the movement of goods and services especially the perishable goods at a faster rate. There will also be lower energy costs and also the cost for the maintenance of the electric train will be cheaper. Since the electric trains move smoothly on the tracks, the maintenance costs of the tracks will reduce. Conclusion This paper has discussed the current state of electric train, near and future development that will be expected or are underway. Since information technology and power electronics will continuously advance further and further in the future, the electric train corporations will also continually use and study the technologies in order to meet the various needs of the customers and also of the transport industry. The needs expected to be meet with the advancement of the technology are development of stable, safer, reliable, efficient and faster and comfortable railway transport and operation. Work Cited Duffy, Michael C. (2003). Electric railways, 1880-1990. Stevenage, England: Institution of Electrical Engineers. p. 117 Day, Lance; McNeil, Ian (1966). "Davidson, Robert". Biographical dictionary of the history of technology. London: Routledge Feedburner (2007, September 23). First Electric Train. Fact books. Read More