To celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Swiss railways, the Retic Railway (RHB) has established the world record by successfully following the UNESCO trafficking of the Albula with the LONGER REDUCTED REDUCT FRAMING TRAIN NEVER MADE MADE. The convoy, composed of 25 Capricorn Electrreenireached the record length of 1906 metersgiving a unique show to thousands of enthusiasts and visitors. The record train started at 14:20 from the station of Preycrossed one of the most suggestive Alpine landscapes in the world and reached the destination, Alvaneu, after about an hour of travel.
The record numbers
To ensure that everything took place without hitches, several technical and organizational precautions have been adopted. The internal communication along the entire convoy was ensured by the Civil Protection thanks to the use of a Telephone phone almost 2 kilometers long and on board they were present 7 drivers And 21 specialized technicianscommitted to monitoring and managing every phase of the trip. Each capricorn electrus used (of the ABE 4/16 type) is approximately 76 metersand is made up of 4 crates (or wagons), therefore 100 wagons have been interconnected, about 19 m long, to reach the record.
The train traveled a stretch between preda, located at 1,788.7 meters above sea level, and Alvaneu, at an altitude of 999.3 meters, facing a total difference in altitude of 789.4 meters and during the descent, the braking system recovered about 4000 Kilowattora of energy. The road speed was constant between 30 and 35 kilometers per hour and the overall weight of the convoy, at the time of the test, was well 2990 tons!
The record numbers are interesting, just think that 4000 kWh correspond to the energy necessary to feed one European average house for about a year! These were recovered thanks to the regenerative braking system that works converting kinetic energy (produced by the train movement) in electricity.
The preparation of the record train has proven to be a company of extraordinary technical precision and coordination, which has marked a new goal in the railway history.
