Comment & Analysis
Innotrans is a biannual event held in Berlin Messe, which this year occurred from 21-23 September. This was my first visit and I had been warned by colleagues who had attended previously that you can easily become overwhelmed by the sheer size of the exhibition. The exhibition comprises:
- Ten outdoor lines of railway equipment of all kinds;
- 36 large halls of exhibitors, including train operators, train and infrastructure manufacturers and myriad numbers of component suppliers for the rail industry;
- Almost 3,000 rail industry exhibitors dotted around these halls; and
- Over 130,000 trade visitors.
I had arrived early to beat the crowds and took in the outdoor exhibits looking at the new trains on display from Alstom, Siemens, Skoda and Stadler. There was also a display of large yellow vehicles and machines developed for maintaining the rail infrastructure. I was particularly interested in the first fuel cell powered (ie zero emissions) passenger train from Alstom (shown below) and the addition of supercapacitors to an Austrian locomotive which allows operation on non electrified lines with zero emissions, both demonstrating novel ways to reduce emissions produced by our rolling stock.
This theme of developing solutions for multi-modal traction operation continued with the launch of the UK Class 88 electric locomotive which includes a 700kW diesel engine for operation on non electrified lines.
There was a great deal of interest in the hardware on display and many found novel uses for selfie sticks and mobile phones to look underneath trains to record how they were constructed.
Upon moving indoors I found that the exhibitions were dominated by the large industry manufacturers which were emphasising the opportunities available from using digital technology and information. It was interesting to look at developments in train control systems and the implementation of ERTMS across Europe, particularly as this is something I have an interest in from working in Denmark. However, it was not just the large manufacturers showing off their innovations but also the rest of the supply chain. Manufacturers from across the globe of all sizes displayed their latest components; from nuts and bolts to complete wheelsets. However, the highlight for me was the composite bogie produced by Kawasaki and illustrated above. This demonstrates the potential for weight savings by using non-metallic materials.
The global nature of the event was emphasised with exhibitors from over 60 countries from all parts of the railway world including China, Japan, Turkey, Russia, America and Europe.
I very much enjoyed my first visit to Innotrans as it was a great place to meet and conduct business, but you had to agree a location and time otherwise it was easy to miss people!
The views of the writer do not necessarily represent the views of the Institution.