photo: Flickr/David/TMH upgraded RZD locomotives with autopilot system featuring virtual coupling
630 Class 3ES5K Ermak electric locomotives operated by Russian Railways just got an upgrade, and they utilize an autopilot system featuring virtual coupling, which got installed onto them by TMH.
The Ermak electric locomotives utilize a microprocessor and a diagnostic procedure. These vehicles continuously show better features than the previous generations.
The virtual coupling allows trains to synchronize their operations while keeping safe distances of 2-3 kilometers and also keeping control of locomotives from a single cockpit. Digital radio channel for data transmissions gets used in these locomotives as the system can work without traffic signaling. These improvements allow a decrease of the intervals of trains on railroads by two(from ten minutes to five minutes).
One of the benefits is that these locomotives got equipped with dual-axis traction control, which allows them to carry 7100-tonne freight vehicles across the Eastern network of the Russian Railways.
The Class 3ES5K Ermak mainline cargo locomotives are 3-cell 12-axis AC trains produced by TMH since 2006. By 2021 over 1282 locomotives got manufactured. These locomotives got an alternative 2-section version (the Class 2ES5K) and a 4-section version (the Class 4ES5K), which also carry autopilot systems since 2021. The one-unit option (Class E5K) is also available.
Since January 2021, every new Class 3ES5K locomotive got equipped with the TMH autopilot system. Over the past twelve months, the Russian firm created over 136 of these locomotives, and roughly five hundred more of them got updated by adding this system.
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