New and more silent brake blocks, capable to reduce the noise of trains by up to 50% (especially for freight wagons) will soon be introduced in the European transport market; the measure will be possible due to the authorization of the European Railway Agency of the LL brake blocks manufactured of composite materials and mainly dedicated to freight wagons.
In fact, the authorization of these railway products is the final step after many years of research and technical trials conducted by the industry and by the International Union of Railways.
The LL brake blocks are made of composite materials meaning that these products will have a positive effect at the surface of the train wheels, grinding them and thus reducing the generated noise level. The traditional brake blocks, made of cast iron, harden the surface of the train wheels which intensifies the generated noise. By using brake blocks made of composite materials, especially together with quality rails, the noise level can be reduced by up to 10 dB which means 50% less noise perceived by people, the railway industry points out.
At present, most of the existing freight wagons running in the European Union don’t have to be compliant with the European standards on noise because these standards are only mandatory for new wagons. These “old” wagons are, therefore, the main source of railway noise which troubles the citizens and the development of railway transport. Today it is possible to replace the noisy cast iron brake blocks with LL brake blocks in a simple and quite pro-fitable manner. Retechnologisation with LL brake blocks does not require changing the braking system and is far less expensive and complicated than modernisation with alternative K brake blocks.
At the moment, the European Railway Agency elaborates the requirements and the evaluation procedures for the European Union covering all types of brake blocks, requirements and procedures that will be integrated in a package of recast technical specifications for interoperability for wagons. This would permit manufacturers to develop new brake blocks and to certify them rapidly and efficiently in conformity with the EU harmonised procedures.
The EuropeTrain project was launched so as to speed up, but also to improve the testing in operation of the LL brake blocks. The train, including 30 specific wagons, has run in different countries along Europe with the sole purpose of testing the LL brake blocks 100% made of composite materials. In its “journey” throughout Europe, the train had to cover 200,000 km in 14 phases and had to “witness” all relevant operation conditions in Europe. Therefore, the train run on ramps with different operation modes, in regions with arctic snow in Scandinavia, as well as in areas with extremely high temperature. The train crossed Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.
“The ‘EuropeTrain’ testing campaign will provide the railway community with an important basis for possible decision-taking in a strategic issue: the equipment of large fleets of freight wagons with “silent” composite brake blocks. This objective of the reduction of noise emissions by freight trains marks a new step towards more competitive and more sustainable rail freight transport in Europe”, declared UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux during the presentation of the final report of the “EuropeTrain” campaign.
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