The global rail industry seeks innovative solutions to make train travel more reliable, comfortable and cost-effective.
Despite its storied history, rail is rarely the first choice for speedy travel these days in the U.S. Yet for developed countries seeking solutions to worsening congestion resulting from urban sprawl and developing nations working to connect rural communities to distant cities, trains are an increasingly attractive solution for long commutes. The result is that rail stakeholders are looking for new solutions to improve the industry’s greatest challenges.
“It’s long been acknowledged that the challenges facing Britain’s railway network are those of capacity, reliability and efficiency, and that new technology holds the key to solving many of these,” says Tom Bowman, commercial director at Dura Composites, a U.K.-based manufacturer.
These challenges are not unique to Great Britain. From China to the United States and elsewhere around the world, train manufacturers, railroad associations and governments are striving to better connect communities by improving rail infrastructure, reducing the costs of high-speed and local rail systems, and creating comfortable and reliable trains that people will be eager to use.
Budgets that are “under ever increasing scrutiny” represent another big challenge that stakeholders face, according to Bowman. “It’s never been more vital to ensure that the solutions provided to the rail industry are both future-proof and have a measurable impact on efficiency.”
It’s no wonder that composite materials are viewed as a key solution.
Building a More Efficient Train
According to a February 2017 report from market research firm Lucintel, the future of the global rail composites market looks promising, with opportunities in both interior and exterior applications. The report projects the market for composite applications in the global rail industry to reach an estimated $821 million by 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 3.6 percent. Major drivers for this growth include increasing demand for lightweight materials and rapid development of high-speed trains.
“Composites fit in very well with the lightweighting agenda,” says Ajay Kapadia, knowledge transfer manager for advanced composites at the Knowledge Transfer Network, a company that connects innovators with funding support. The cost benefits of reducing the weight of train cars are a key driver for the growing use of composites in many applications.
“Obviously, cost is the main issue – the cost of power and the cost of maintenance,” Kapadia says. As he points out, lighter trains allow for increased capacity. “With urban areas becoming more populous, especially in the developing world, they need a rapid transit system that fits in more people.”
Nowhere is this truer than in China, where the country is pouring more than $500 billion into its rail infrastructure by 2020 to improve connectivity. A Bloomberg News report released in December 2016 explains that the high-speed rail network will span more than 18,650 miles, cover 80 percent of the country’s major cities and boost economic growth by connecting people in rural communities to urban jobs. This announcement came at a time when China already holds the world’s longest network of high-speed trains, with more than 12,400 miles of route in service.
Penso Group produces a press-formed, prepreg composite rail door, featuring phenolic resins and an integrated core sandwich panel. The door is lighter in weight than existing aluminum doors and has been approved for use in London’s Underground. Photo credit: Penso Group
This rapid growth presents a big opportunity for train car manufacturers and composite companies, such as Aliancys. The Swiss company has supplied Chinese train manufacturers like Changchun Lu Tong Rail Vehicle Co. Ltd. with fire-retardant resin systems for non-structural train components, including front exterior trim, interior walls and components, and integrated sanitary units, all certified to relevant standards. The use of fire-resistant composite components has gained exposure, garnering interest in recent years in the possibility of replacing metal structural components with CFRP.
However, Kapadia says that the rail industry remains hesitant to integrate composites into structural applications just yet. “For anything that carries load – like the main structure of the train – they’re reluctant to use composites because of the fire risk,” he says. The issue surrounding fire, he adds, is not that the train shouldn’t burn, but it should not start burning before people can get out. “So even if you have a metal train – and most trains are made out of aluminum these days – that will still burn. But you have some time to get passengers off the train before that starts to happen.”
Instead, Kapadia suggests that manufacturers continue to push the boundaries for the use of composites in interior products. By getting new resins and technologies into these applications, they’ll be able to point to successful examples over time that will build the case for more widespread use.
“I think we’re going to see continued use on secondary structures and interior structures, and that’s going to build confidence for greater use of composites,” Kapadia says. “If a train operator says, ‘We’re looking at a composite door here; it’s been working for 20 years, we’ve had a fire, and it did fine,’ that confidence buildup with the train operators and the train manufacturers will be key to greater use of composites in the rail industry.”
Remaking Train Interiors
Forecasters agree that train interiors are the area to watch for new uses of composites. Lucintel predicts that the interior segment will remain the largest market segment by volume, with growth driven by the increase of options in fire-retardant materials with improved aesthetic properties.
Because fire resistance remains an issue for broader use, Kapadia sees resin suppliers exploring the use of next-generation fire-resistant resins. For example, the global chemical company Scott Bader teamed with Shanghai Cedar Composites Technology Co. Ltd. to provide luxury cabin chairs for high-speed trains operated by China Railway, the national railway operator. The CFRP chairs, produced via vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), feature Scott Bader’s Crestapol® 1212, a low-viscosity, fire-retardant urethane acrylate closed mold resin. The resin meets several international performance standards, including Germany’s DIN-5510 fire test for railway components, France’s NFF 16-101-F0 fire test for railway components and NFP 92-501-M1 building materials combustion test, and the European Commission’s EN/TS 45545-2: 2009 on fire testing materials and components for trains.
In addition to fire-resistance, cost remains another issue that composite suppliers need to address. “You have to balance the upfront costs with the ongoing costs,” Kapadia says. “If something costs a little bit more upfront but saves you money throughout its life – because composites don’t corrode, they’re lighter so they save you on fuel, etc. – that is an equation that people are increasingly going to consider.”
Opening Doors to Innovation
