Furrer+Frey

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Overhead Contact Lines

Address
Ingenieurbüro, Fahrleitungsbau,
Thunstrasse 35,
PO Box 182,
3000 Bern 6,
Switzerland
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Founded in 1923, Furrer+Frey, the electrification company, specialises in railway electrification systems ranging from 600V to 25kV and covering mountain lines, intercity lines, urban traffic, rack railways, normal and narrow gauge railways, narrow tunnels etc. Specific innovative products include the overhead conductor rail, the light rail system LIRACOS and the StB FL 100 for tramway, the FL 200 or FL 260 catenary systems and trolleybus equipment.

The overhead conductor rail

The conductor rail consists of a rectangular rigid aluminium profile where the contact wire is clamped between the webs. Recently, it was installed for its 80th project. Despite the success, Furrer+Frey continues to improve both the components and the installation procedure and investigate new possible applications and their specific requirements.

Today, Furrer+Frey has developed a complete range of elements for the overhead conductor rail system including supports, expansion elements, fixed points, anchors and moveable overhead conductor rail sections suitable for electrified car depots, maintenance halls, moveable bridges and loading areas. Since 2004 we have had trains running at 230km/h under the overhead conductor rail.

The light rail system LIRACOS and StB FL 100

Another recent development is the light rail system LIRACOS, with its fully insulated cantilevers and ropes where no current carrying parts extend over the contact wire plane. No further insulation is needed and the system is therefore inconspicuously slender and merges into any city or suburban landscape.

Moreover, the tubular, synthetic cantilevers can be delivered in any colour to camouflage them even more with the environment and neighbouring buildings, or to contrast with them deliberately, as does StB FL 100, the new tramway overhead contact line which was recently developed for the new tramway in Zürich. In this case we worked closely together with the town-architects.

Catenary system FL 200 or FL 260

Our conventional catenary system, FL 200 or FL 260, was developed in co-operation with BLS Lötschbergbahn in the 1980s and has, in the meantime, also been adopted and installed by other Swiss railway companies.

It is a robust and aesthetically pleasing system with its geometry based on triangles. The hinged cantilever system is easy to install and to adjust. It was conceived for high-speed railways with velocities up to 260km/h. The cantilever tube is made of hot-dip galvanised steel, stainless steel or aluminium, depending on individual customer requirements.

The system has proved its worth on a multitude of track kilometres over the last 20 years and we expect it to have a life span of at least 60 years with very little maintenance. In the long run, a truly economical solution. This fact was also taken into consideration by Network Rail, when they decided to use FL 200 for the GE upgrade

Trolleybus electrification equipment

In Switzerland, several cities, Berne, Neuchâtel, St Gallen and others, have trolley bus systems that are very popular and well maintained. Work on these lines has given us the opportunity to gather experience and develop the system further. We are one of few providers of trolleybus equipment.

Vehicles and working platforms for overhead contact line installation works and maintenance

We rent out and, in a joint venture with UP, also sell working platforms. Recently, the Swiss Federal Railways bought 17 units.

Engineering services

Our engineering department covers the whole spectrum of overhead contact line services including laser-scanning or aerial survey of existing installations. ELFF is our very effective design tool for overhead contact lines. It has developed so far, that we have made the first steps to implement it with third parties.

Ongoing projects

Further information on request.

Contact:

Mr Rico Furrer, chief executive officer
Mr Rudolf Brodbek, executive officer, export department
Ms Caroline Bacher, head of UK projects
Mr Bruno Fiechter, executive officer, engineering department
Mr Jean-Pierre Solida, executive officer, construction department
Mr Daniel Eisenhut, executive officer, development / design department
Mr Andreas Büchi, executive officer, material / logistics department
Mr Beat Furrer, consultant
Mr Urs Wili, consultant railway technology

Projects

  • West Coast Main Line

    The modernisation of the 399-mile (641.6km) rail route between London and Glasgow and its key divergences to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, was the largest rail project to date in the UK.

  • Copenhagen Metro, Light Rail and Metro Project, Denmark

    Denmark's capital city, København (Copenhagen), took light rail and metro technology to another level in October 2002 by opening an extensive system capable of being operated entirely without drivers. The project gained momentum through the area to be covered not being on the city's S-tog suburban heavy rail network.

  • Guangzhou Metro

    Guangzhou Metro is a light rail transit system in the city of Guanghzou (formerly known as Canton) in China. It is the fourth metro system to be introduced in Mainland China.

  • Madrid Metro

    Spain's capital Madrid, home to over three million people, has one of the most extensive metro systems anywhere in the w

  • Bahn 2000

    In the 1980s, rail corridors through the Swiss Alps were running near capacity, and traffic connections in the densely p

  • Speedrail

    Australia cannot decide whether to enter the high speed rail revolution. Despite the 12 December 2000 decision to formally abandon its plans for a Speedrail network between Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, and Canberra, the nation's administrative capital, it is still talking to potential developers.

  • Hong Kong West Rail

    West Rail is a massive, HK$57.7 billion project to build a stand-alone 30.5km rail line between Nam Cheong in West Kowloon and Tuen Mun, to try and tap into the growth potential of the western towns and cities of Hong Kong.

  • Karlsruhe Light / Heavy Rail

    Close to the French border in south-west Germany, Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg was the first European city to implement track-sharing for light and heavy rail vehicles.

  • London Underground Jubilee Line

    Construction of the extension of London Underground's Jubilee Line from Green Park, through south London and Docklands to Stratford, proved a troublesome project.

  • Arlanda Express High Speed Rail Link operated by A-Train AB, Sweden

    24 November 1999 saw the inauguration of the new, dedicated high-speed rail link between Stockholm Central railway station and the city's main airport, at Arlanda. The airport is at a competitive disadvantage over other major city air terminals, as it is 42km (26 miles) from the city centre.

  • Swiss Tilting Trains

    SBB/CFF/FFS, the operator of Switzerland's rail network has implemented major improvements in the services it offers to

  • Network Rail

    Established in March 2002, Network Rail (NR) took over ownership and responsibility for the rail infrastructure of Engla

  • Singapore Light Rail

    Singapore, one of the most densely populated islands in the world, boasts an excellent modern light-rail network. The sy

  • Netherlands

    Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Netherlands Railways - NS) runs trains over 2000km of electrified railway, and conversion of the

Address
Furrer+Frey AG
Ingenieurbüro, Fahrleitungsbau
Thunstrasse 35
PO Box 182
3000 Bern 6
Switzerland

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Furrer+Frey Italia s.r.l.
Piazza S. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio 16
00125 Roma
Italy

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Furrer+Frey GB Ltd
Overhead Contact Lines
Winchester House 1st floor
19 Bedford Row
London
WC1R 4EB
United Kingdom

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Furrer+Frey Electrification (Guangzhou) Ltd
Rm. 2009, CITIC Plaza
233 Tianhe Beilu
Tianhe, Guangzhou
510613
China

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Furrer+Frey Deutschland GmbH
Gross-Berliner-Damm 96-98
12487 Berlin
Germany

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Furrer+Frey Zürich
Büro Zürich
Hardturmstrasse 105
8005 Zürich
Switzerland

Address
Furrer+Frey Montreux
Bureau Montreux
Grand'Rue 90
1820 Montreux
Switzerland

Address
Furrer+Frey Bellinzona
Via Claudio Pellandini 4
3. Stock
6500 Bellinzona
Switzerland

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Address
Maintenance Area and Storage Thun
Werkhof und Lager
Eisenbahnstrasse 62-64
3645 Gwatt-Thun
Switzerland

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