Automotrice à grande vitesse

Automotrice à grande vitesse AGV
AGV Pégase at Innotrans 2008
Manufacturer	Alstom
Specifications
Car body construction	aluminium with carbon composite in articulation section[1][n 1]
Train length	132.100m (7 car)[n 2]
Car length	intermediate: 17.300m[1] end car length 22.800m[1] end car pivot distance: 17.1m[2]
Width	2.985m[n 2]
Floor height	1155mm[3][n 3]
Maximum speed	360 km/h (220 mph) at 25kV 50Hz AC[n 2] 320 km/h (200 mph) at 15kV 16 2/3 Hz[n 2] 250 km/h (160 mph) at 3kV DC[n 2] 200 km/h (120 mph) at 1.5kV DC[n 2]
Weight	272tonnes (7 car)[n 2]
Power output	6.080MW[n 2][n 4]
Current collection method	Pantograph
UIC classification	Bo'(2)(2)(Bo')(Bo')(2)(2)Bo'[n 2]
Bogies	3m wheelbase[1]

The Automotrice à grande vitesse, AGV is a high-speed electric multiple unit (EMU) designed and built by Alstom.

Alstom offers the AGV in configurations from seven to fourteen carriages. The trains are constructed from units comprising three cars, each with one transformer and two traction electronics packages located underneath the cars, and from single-car trailers. A 7-car unit has two 3-car modules separated by one trailer and seating for around 245, an 11-car unit has three 3-car modules with two trailer cars with seating for around 446.^[6] The maximum commercial speed is 360 km/h (220 mph).

According to Alstom, the advantages of the AGV are: increased seating area per train length (compared to a single-deck TGV); lower maintenance costs due to jacobs bogie articulation giving a low number of bogies per train; and higher energy efficiency, lower noise, and more space in the vestibules due to high power-to-weight ratio, high-efficiency permanent-magnet synchronous motors and other design improvements.^[6]

History and design

The first design studies relating to the AGV were made in 1998.^[3] An AGV design, initially named "TGV 400" was presented in Barcelona in early 2000 as part of Alstom's bid to supply high-speed trains for the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line. Initial specifications were for a train with distributed traction (total power 7.2MW), seating 359 in a train 180 metres long, with a version including eddy current brakes with a top speed of 350 km/h (220 mph), and a tilting version with a top speed of 320 km/h (200 mph). The design would retain the articulated jacobs bogie of the TGV.^[7]

Unlike the TGV, which was developed in collaboration between Alstom and SNCF, the AGV was developed wholly at Alstom's expense, with European Union rules on state aid limiting the extent of financial collaboration between the state-owned SNCF and Alstom.^[8][9] The AGV was promoted in 2002 as a complementary high-speed train to the TGV Duplex, offering higher speeds for less busy train paths,^[8] while a double-decker AGV was posited as a future possibility by Alstom.^[10]

The new design was the first high-speed train design in modern times that had inter-vehicle articulation and distributed traction.^{[n 5]} The design used Alstom Onix IGBT based traction inverters; the weight reduction associated with IGBT technology allowed an axle load of within 17 tonnes per axle. The trainsets were to be made up of modules of 3-car sets with two powered bogies per module. Each motor bogie had two body-mounted self-ventilated motors, one per axle, rated at 600kW. The traction electronics used two taps per transformer per module, each powering two parallel connected inverters, with a separate inverter for each motor. There were two carriage designs: the driving control cars, and intermediate cars; and two designs of bogie: powered and unpowered.^[13][10]

The initial AGV design incorporated a number of new features: an electrically-activated active suspension (in the transverse direction to movement), used to limit oscillations between car and bogie; and eddy current brakes, fitted to the end bogies. Both technologies had been previously trialled on TGV sets. The carriages were constructed from aluminium alloy as used on the TGV Duplex. The transformers, which weigh 6.5 tonnes, are fitted underneath the end cars, since the presence of the leading bogie allows the mass to be distributed over three instead of two axles. The interior structure was designed to allow easier refurbishment and alteration to the passenger environment. The floor level is kept practically constant throughout the train, including at inter-coach connections.^{[13][n 3]}

By 2005 permanent-magnet synchronous motor technology had become mature enough to use in a commercial product, and was incorporated into the design allowing a bogie-mounted (instead of frame-mounted) traction motor, with higher efficiency and lower overall weight. The 2005 specifications allowed a wider (3 metre) carriage than the TGV, with a correspondingly shorter coach length. Alstom claimed operating and capital costs per seat were the same as a TGV Duplex.^[3][9]

In 2007 a modified TGV Duplex, the 'V150', fitted with AGV-type bogies, traction electronics and traction motors (operating at 1000kW^[1]) set a new rail speed record of 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph).^[14]

The design was complete enough to be frozen by July 2006.^[3] It had become formalised at basic train lengths of 7 or 14 cars, with the 3-car modules remaining part of the design. Each 3-car module had either a transformer or one of two traction modules (inverters) located beneath a carriage. Additional trailer vehicles (referred to as 'key' cars) were to extend the train size beyond multiples of three. The train is able to operate under all four european electification systems, with a top speed specified at 360 km/h (220 mph) under 25kV electrification, 320 km/h (200 mph) under 15kV 16 2/3 Hz supply, and further reduced to 250 km/h (160 mph) and 200 km/h (120 mph) under 3kV and 1.5kV respectively.^[1]

The bogies are related to the type used on the TGV trains; in addition to the changes to traction motor type and installation, the bogies are constructed of a high tensile steel, for lighter weight, the bogie wheelbase is 3m as with the TGV. Braking is by rheotstatic braking and regenerative braking, in addition to triple disc brakes on trailer bogies for low speed braking. An eddy current brake was not fitted.^[1] The train also incorporates a carbon composite as a structural element, forming a U beam which supports the carriage body end on the secondary suspension.^{[3][n 1]}

In January 2008 NTV (Italy) ordered twenty-five eleven-car trains for €650 million for use on the Italian rail network.^[15]

The prototype Pégase AGV was unveiled in Feb 2008,^[6] by which time Alstom had invested approximately €100 million in the development program.^[3]

Prototypes

Elisa test train, 2001

By May 2000 prototype vehicles were being constructed for testing in 2001. Two coaches were constructed; a driving and an intermediate cab, with both trailer and motor bogies; for testing the units were attached to a four car TGV Reseau set.^[13] The test train (named "Elisa".^[16]) began tests in late 2001; including ride and noise level measurements, as well as testing of a multisystem "Europantograph", designed to work with all four european overhead electrification systems. Dynamic tests included measuring traction motor, braking rheostat, transformer and inverter cooling under high-speed conditions, as well as aerodynamic tests on airconditioning system performance at high speed.^[10] Initial tests were complete in May 2002.^[8]

Pégase demonstrator, 2008

By 2004, enabled by the availability of rare-earth magnets with high magnetic strength, Alstom had developed permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) which were suitable for rail vehicles. They had a higher efficiency than asynchronous motors and a higher power-to-weight ratio, as well as having the potential for lower noise levels. The AGV was one of the early applications of the new motor design.^[17] By late 2005 the AGV traction motors were respecified as 720 kW PMSMs weighing 740kg, mounted on the motor bogie.^[5] By 2008 the motor's continuous power rating had been respecified to 760 kW.^[3][2]

In late 2005 Alstom began the process of constructing a 7-car AGV demonstration train fitted with PMSMs, with half the bogies powered.^[9] The demonstration vehicle, named Pégase (Prototype Evolutif Grande vitesse Automotrice Standard Européen) was assembled at Alstom's La Rochelle plant, with bogies built at Alstom's Le Creusot plant.^[18] The prototype was unveiled on 5 February 2008, at La Rochelle, in the presence of president Nicolas Sarkozy.^[6][3]

The transformers were mounted in the driving cars, with the other two cars of the three car modules each carrying a traction converter (ONIX 233 water cooled), which also integrate auxilliary converters, the middle 'key' car carried auxilliary equipment under the carriage. The HVAC equipment is mounted on the roof. The internal DC inverter power bus is supplied at 3600V DC.^[4][2]

The unit began a four month dynamic testing programme at speeds up to 210km/h on the Velim railway test circuit in the Czech Republic in mid-2008.^[19]

Testing over four weekends the LGV Est high-speed line began in late 2008; the train completed 7500km of test runs, after which it returned to the Velim test track for tests relating to certification for NTV's trainsets in Italy, including SCMT safety system integration.^[20]

In 2010 the AGV test train began testing in Italy, reaching 300 km/h (190 mph) on the Rome-Naples high-speed line. Dynamic tests were completed by Mar 2010.^[21]

Customers

NTV Alstom AGV

NTV

Alstom's first customer for the AGV was Italian company Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV).

Alstom submited its bid to supply NTV with high-speed trains in Mar 2006.^[18] On 17 January 2008 NTV ordered 25 eleven-coach, 460-seat AGV trains, for €650 million.^[15] NTV's AGV trains have seating for around 460.^[22] The order included an option for ten more trainsets. 14 trains were to be built at Alstom's La Rochelle plant, the remaining 11 at Alstom's plant in Savigliano, Italy.^{[n 6]} An additional contract for maintenance of the trains over a thirty year period involved the construction of a maintenance depot at Nola, Italy.^[24]

The company planned to launch a variety of services on the Turin - Milan - Bologna, Rome - Venice, and Bologna - Florence - Rome - Naples high-speed lines, with some trains from Naples running to Bari. Initial services were expected in mid-2011 based on the delivery of the first trains in September 2010.^[15] The NTV livery was unveiled in July 2008.^[24][22]

The buildings at the €90-million AGV maintenence facility were completed by May 2010; construction of the first NTV AGV trainset was completed on 10 May 2010.^[25] In Mar 2011 NTV announced it was to postpone service start from the planned start date of Sep 2011 due to delays with the train certification,^[26] this start date had moved to 2012 by Nov 2011.^[23] The first AGV produced at Savigliano was formally presented in Nov 2011.^[23] By Dec 2011 certification testing was complete.^[27] On 30 Mar 2012 NTV announced the its first Italo service would begin on the Napoli to Milan rail lines on 28 Apr 2012; the service will be the first open access high-speed train service in the world.^[28]

The NTV trains will provide wi-fi, satellite TV and UMTS connectivity for passengers and will also include a cinema in an end carriage^[29]

See also

• List of high-speed trains

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alstom AGV

• "AGV very high speed trains", www.alstom.com, archived from the original on 25 Jul 2011, http://web.archive.org/web/20110725045732/http://www.alstom.com/transport/products-and-services/rolling-stock/agv-very-high-speed-trains/ 
• "AGV Full speed ahead into the 21st century", www.alstom.com (Alstom), archived from the original on 25 Jul 2011, http://web.archive.org/web/20110725045500/http://www.alstom.com/assetmanagement/DownloadAsset.aspx?ID=4c2955a3-585e-4227-93fd-c2dbf3a0fb7a&version=ca2549b3abf04700aebb1f35f7bd8d793.pdf , AGV Brochure
• "Alstom AGV prototype Industrial Design", www.vegarastudio.com, http://www.vergarastudio.com/pdf/AGV_prototype.pdf, retrieved Mar 2012 
• "Supervlak AGV se v Česku učí uhánět rychlostí 400 km/h." (in czech), technet.idnes.cz, 4 Aug 2008, http://technet.idnes.cz/supervlak-agv-se-v-cesku-uci-uhanet-rychlosti-400-km-h-byli-jsme-uvnitr-1jz-/tec_technika.aspx?c=A080729_204137_tec_technika_rja , AGV Pégase at Velim test track, Czech Republic, 2009
• "France unveils super-fast train", news.bbc.co.uk (BBC News), 5 Feb 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7227807.stm , official unveiling of Pégase AGV prototype, Feb 2008
• "AGV— высокоскоростной электропоезд нового поколения" (in russian), Железные дороги мира (1), 2009, https://sites.google.com/a/zdmira.com/www/archive-files/dm2009-01_51-57.pdf