In January 2014, the Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Company (BSR) placed an order for the development of a prototype low-floor tram for Beijing with Voith Engineering Services.
Increasing urbanization is a current challenge for infrastructure development also in China. By 2030, a billion Chinese people are expected to live in urban centers. The government in Beijing is therefore actively promoting the further development of the streetcar infrastructure to cope with this trend in the best possible way.
In order to position itself on the Chinese market, to become part of the urbanization and to extend its competencies in the streetcar sector, BSR relied on the expertise of Voith Engineering Services’ specialists. “We are very pleased to work with a company like BSR. This makes it possible for us to demonstrate our complete vehicle expertise on an international level”, said Sven Hofmann, Project Manager at Voith Engineering Services.
Within the scope of the major project lasting 16 months, the engineering experts were responsible for a complete vehicle development including mechanical as well as electrical functional development for the first time.
At the sites in Chemnitz, Dessau and Dresden the Voith Engineering Services team carried out the planning, concept development and detailed engineering of the vehicle. The engineers developed the vehicle’s body shell, the bogie and the interior and exterior equipment in virtual 3-D models. Furthermore, they provided engineering estimates, electrical system design and wiring. In addition, they prepared concepts for factory and production planning, estimated material requirements and took into account profitability, safety and maintenance aspects. All of this was done in regular cooperation between Voith and BSR – in Germany as well as in China.
Since the customer wanted a modern and, preferably, light vehicle weighing not more than 50 tonnes when fully boarded, the involvement of many Chinese suppliers and the use of their components proved to be particularly challenging.
In March, prototype construction started. Twelve Voith engineers supported the customer on site in Beijing with services in the manufacturing fields of body shell, equipment, bogie, vehicle fit out and cable routing. The prototype was completed in time for the Beijing “Urban Mass Transit” fair in June 2015 where it was on display for two days. The functional tests of the low-floor vehicle – which is 34 meters long and consists of five parts – are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
