InnoTrans 2022 (9)

On 21 September 2022, seven partners from Saxony's business and scientific communities signed a cooperation agreement on the construction and commissioning of a charging station for battery-electric trains in the  Erzgebirge in the presence of Thomas Kralinski, State Secretary at Saxony's Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport.  

The object of the cooperation is the construction and testing of an innovative charging station for BEMUs. The outstanding feature here is that charging takes place at the national grid frequency of 50 Hz and not at the usual 16.7 Hz railway frequency. This has the advantage "that the investments for charging stations are significantly lower than for solutions with frequency conversion. In addition, the structure is very compact and no planning approval procedure is required for installation," explains Dr Steffen Röhlig, authorised signatory of Rail Power Systems GmbH and deputy chairman of the board of the Rail.S Bahntechnikclusters.

The project involves the installation of the charging infrastructure at Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station in the vicinity of the Smart Rail Connectivity Campus (SRCC) research and test centre. In a test phase, the interactions between rail vehicles and the charging infrastructure, between the charging infrastructure and the feeding energy supply network and the effects of the charging infrastructure on the existing railway infrastructure are to be investigated first. 

The charging station will be put into operation under test conditions, installed at Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station in spring 2023. Subsequently, a test programme will be completed under operating conditions, including Coradia Continental BEMUs of the VMS.

After a successful test phase, the intention is to use the facility in regular operation for journeys from Chemnitz. "With the procurement of BEMUs for the Leipzig - Chemnitz route, we are continuing our strategy of making regional rail passenger transport in the region contemporary and environmentally friendly. In future, selected train services can run with electric traction as far as the Erzgebirge," emphasises Mathias Korda, VMS Managing Director.

The cooperation partners include DB Energie, DB RegioNetz Infrastruktur/Erzgebirgsbahn, F&S Prozessautomation, Rail Power Systems, the Smart Rail Connectivity Campus, the Technische Universität of Dresden with its Chair of Electric Trains, and Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (VMS) - all institutions from Saxony or with a registered office in Saxony. This makes it a 100 % "Made in Saxony" innovation project.