Media Releases

11/17/2015

First Hybrid Rail Vehicles in China drive with Voith RailPack 400DE

Heidenheim, Germany
Before delivery, the RailPack 400DE was extensively tested.
The RailPack 400DE - for the first hybrid rail vehicles in China.
Voith is making history with its RailPack 400DE. This drive system represents the first hybrid vehicles in and for China. The three-part vehicles are driven with two RailPacks 400DE, both with a 375 kW diesel engine and a 345 kW generator. The first three RailPacks have already been delivered to the customer Changchun Railway Vehicles Company Ltd. (CRC). They underwent a range of comprehensive tests at the company's own test ring in Changchun and at Beijing Jiaotong University. Next year the rail vehicle is to be tested and approved by the China Railway Corporation, the national railway operator of China.

The Chinese vehicle manufacturer has planned 30 of these hybrid vehicles. This is an absolute first for China. They are to be used in the routes in the city suburbs that have not yet or have only partially been electrified. Outside these areas, daily service runs smoothly with the Voith RailPack 400DE, while inside towns and cities the operator can run the vehicles with electrical drive, with zero emissions. The hybrid vehicles reach top speeds of up to 120 km/h with diesel-electric drive. The RailPacks 400DE also feature a quick switch system from electric to diesel-electric. The Voith drive system is also designed to withstand extreme climate demands: it can handle temperatures down to minus 40° Celsius.

The cooperation between CRC and Voith in this pioneering rail vehicle project is based on Voith's readiness to use existing, tried and tested system technology to develop customer-specific solutions. The Chinese partner regarded the diesel-hydraulic and diesel-mechanical RailPacks that have already been put to the test thousands of times with their reliable components as a convincing argument for the RailPack 400DE.

Voith Railpacks for Railcars
Voith RailPacks are drive systems for use in single-segment and multisegment diesel railcars for commuter, regional, national and intercity service. They can be supplied as diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic and diesel-electric models. They are available with an engine performance of 294 kW to 735 kW.

Voith Turbo, a Group Division of Voith GmbH, is a specialist for intelligent drive solutions. Customers from highly diverse industries such as oil and gas, energy, mining and mechanical engineering, ship technology, rail and commercial vehicles rely on advanced technologies from Voith Turbo.

Voith sets standards in the energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transportation & automotive markets. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 39,000 people, generates € 5.3 billion in sales, operates in over 50 countries around the world, and is today one of the largest familyowned companies in Europe.