01.07.08
Hi-tech Pfaff-silberblau depot train lift supports upgrade work
Source: Rail Technology Magazine June/July 2008
A future fleet of eight-car trains will be more efficiently serviced and maintained thanks to a state of the art train lift system recently installed as part of the Victoria Line upgrade on London’s Underground network
Metronet Rail, owned by Transport for London, is renewing the deep level line with a £900 million programme for London Underground as part of TfL’s £10 billion investment in the Tube. A new fleet of 47 trains are being built by Bombardier in Derby and will enter service from 2009.
Pfaff-silberblau Verkehrstechnik was chosen to install a series of 32 10-tonne HD lifting jacks that could raise an entire eight-car coupled train in one go. Piles for the jacks had to be driven 24 metres deep into the soil – the equivalent of seven storeys – because the north London depot, Northumberland Park, is built on a marsh.
Metronet senior project manager Jaco Fourie said: “More than 500 sq m of concrete was used and all of this was done while keeping normal running service at the depot.”
The lift includes two spare jacks with a track driven floor travel gear. It is one of the longest of its kind, spanning approximately 135m. Even more impressive, the jacks are fully synchronised automatically with a maximum deviation of just plus or minus 5mm from the first to the last carriage.
The adjustable load arms start at 350mm and are capable of lifting a train up to 320 tonnes in weight to a height of 2,050 mm above floor level. A confirmation pendent on the opposite side of the track ensures that the train is being lifted safely and securely at all times.
The Siemens control console can be plugged in at three different positions along the train and to avoid trip hazards all cabling has been embedded within the floor.
Eight minutes is all it takes to lift a whole eight car train – a statistic already put to test in anger to change the bogies and carry out other installation work on the first test train.
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