The electrification of railway maintenance vehicles represents one of the most interesting and complex frontiers of the ecological transition in the rail sector
While catenary power supply has been the standard for passenger and freight trains for decades, the story is very different for construction and maintenance vehicles, which have historically been dominated by diesel engines.
Today, the drive towards the electrification of these vehicles addresses three fundamental needs:
- Zero emissions in tunnels: Working in tunnels with internal combustion engines requires expensive and complex ventilation systems to protect workers’ health.
- Noise reduction: Much maintenance work takes place at night in urban areas; electric motors drastically reduce noise pollution.
- Decarbonization: Aligning the maintenance fleet with global climate goals.
Dromos has developed a range of railway axle gearboxes natively designed for electric drives, utilizing an integration-oriented approach, both for asynchronous and synchronous electric motors.
Integration of asynchronous electric motors
Featured in a gearbox layout that is already modular in terms of axle diameter and, consequently, wheelset load capacity. Here, the motor is directly supported by the gearbox and integrated with a rigid coupling for electrical insulation, which also works as an input torque limiter. The range of dual ratios—for working speed and travel speed—can be configured in various ways using an additional planetary reduction to guarantee torque performance and compact dimensions.
Integration of synchronous electric motors
Increasingly common in battery-powered vehicles due to their extremely high efficiency and power density. This setup offers optimized management of the input RPM and modular motor integration flanges to achieve the most compact footprint possible.