ABB TO DELIVER COMPLETE TRACTION CHAIN TO UPGRADE ROMANIA’S LOCOMOTIVES

ABB secured a large order to deliver the complete traction chain to upgrade 19 of the 5100-kilowatt (kW) locomotives operated by CFR Călători, Romania’s state-owned railway passenger transport company. ABB will supply the traction equipment, comprising transformers, converters and electric motors, in partnership with Reloc, a local contractor specialized in the overhauling and modernization of locomotives operating in Romania and the general Balkans region. The order was booked in Q4 2023.

The project will help to bring Romania’s locomotives up to high levels of energy efficiency and reliability to align with European transport standards. This is a crucial issue since the country’s ageing public transport infrastructure means that its passenger trains currently run at an average speed of only 40 km/h. In recognition of the urgency of the situation, the locomotive upgrading project is being funded by Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) supported by the EU.

The refurbishment of the 19 LE 5100 Co’Co’ with modern traction system is expected to bring significant energy and maintenance savings, while also increasing traction power to 6 MW. The use of modern IGBT traction converters with new traction transformers and AC traction motors will enable overall drive train efficiency improvements of around 5% versus the old traction system with thyristor rectifier and DC motors. In addition, 15% energy savings are expected to be achieved through the recuperation of energy during braking.

Each of CFR’s 5100 kW locomotives will be retrofitted with a traction transformer, two CC 1500 MS traction converters and six AMX 500 traction motors.