Alstom was awarded an innovation trophy for the development of its bi-modal damper at the SIFER railway salon, held in Lille on March 24-26.
The hydraulic bi-modal damper developed by Alstom Transport aims to reduce maintenance costs while simultaneously increasing passenger comfort. The damper reduces wear on the wheel through the specific internal management of oil flows, thus limiting friction between the wheel and the rail on curves.
"The tests carried out on two TGV Lyria trains in collaboration with SNCF’s Material Engineering Centre have demonstrated a 20 percent reduction in attrition on the wheels. This reduces maintenance costs as a result: fewer interventions on infrastructure and less frequent wheel reprofiling, which reduces train downtime,” says Cyril Renault, director of Dispen.
