The Eurocap Rail project was designed to shorten travel time between Brussels in Belgium, Luxembourg City and Strasbourg in France by upgrading the Luxembourg-Kleinbettingen line.
It is in this connection that Luxembourg’s Infrastructure Manager recently took the decision to convert from 3kV DC to 25kV AC, a migration process culminating in the replacement of the overhead line in July and August 2018.
In June 2018 CFL commissioned Eurailtest to carry out the tests required to obtain TSI certification for the installations by validating:
- The dynamic interaction between pantograph and overhead contact line
- Rail-to-ground voltages in the event of short circuits and under normal running conditions
To perform these operations, Eurailtest called on the services of two of its test partners, namely the Test & Measurement Department (DGII ME) for voltage measurements and the Railway Test Agency (AEF) for dynamic behaviour verifications. To meet the client’s requirements, a schedule was rapidly drawn up to enable tests and measurements to be conducted over a period of four days in early September.
For reasons of safety and to eliminate the risk of misunderstandings ascribable to differences in railway terminology, the Eurailtest teams travelled to Luxembourg to help draft the test specifications.
As a result of the flexibility and responsiveness of the Eurailtest teams and the adaptability of their measuring equipment, the necessary preparations were completed in record time to the strict deadlines set by the client.
The AEF and DGII ME teams worked in dual harness, with the short-circuit tests being conducted at night and the pantograph-overhead line interaction tests taking place during the day. In addition, for the interaction qualification tests, Eurailtest measuring equipment was fitted directly on CFL rolling stock, facilitating the general organization of the tests.
CFL has nothing but praise for Eurailtest’s services, saying in a statement: “In cooperation with SNCF, Eurailtest pulled out the stops to complete the necessary procedures in a minimum of time. Thank you for your flexibility, commitment and availability.”