The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
A global market boosted by the performance of the very high speed train
On all journeys lasting less than 3 hours, very high speed trains constitute the best alternative among all
available forms of transport. Assuming equal journey times, the quality of the service provided by very high
speed trains is markedly greater than that of other modes of transport, thanks to the fact that they run
from city centre to city centre, and to excellent onboard conditions during the journey itself (passengers
can walk around while onboard, they can work and spend their journey in the greatest comfort and
convenience). The threshold of three hours is nowadays even tending towards four hours, because air
transport is penalised by the distance to reach airports, the longer periods to board and leave the aircraft,
due to heightened security controls and the constraints of baggage handling, not to mention the saturation
of the airspace around leading airports. The challenge of reaching a commercial speed of 360 kph for the
new generations of very high speed trains, instead of the 320 kph commercial speed of France’s current
TGV trains(1), begins to make sense in this context: 360 kph means travelling 1000 km in just three hours.
In addition to their practical properties and greater comfort, high speed trains also offer distinctive
advantages in terms of protection of the environment and energy savings.
Alstom has worked extensively on these two aspects, which provide economic benefits for train operators
and environmental benefits for the community at large. In order to continue reducing the energy
consumption of trains – i.e. their CO2 emissions – they have to be made ever lighter by using composite
materials, by enhancing the efficiency of the traction systems and by deploying the articulated technology
pioneered by Alstom. The company’s efforts in this area have enabled it to reduce the mass and energy
consumption of Alstom trains currently on the market by around 15% relative to their main competitors.
Although very high speed trains require extensive investment in infrastructure in order to run properly,
very high speed rail travel offers many obvious advantages. Increasing levels of urbanisation and evergreater demand for intercity links, growing environmental constraints and the requirements of many
developing countries for modern forms of public transport have combined to boost the market for very
high speed rail travel, which is currently entering a second expansion phase.
With 3,000 km of high speed lines, nearly 970 trains in circulation and more than 100 million passengers
carried per year, Western Europe is by far the main market for very high speed rail travel, accounting for
70% of the world market. 6,000 additional km of high speed lines are due to be built across Europe by
2020. The overall length of the European network is therefore expected to treble, ushering in a new age of
high speed rail travel across Europe. Paris - Frankfurt, Marseille - Barcelona, Bordeaux - Madrid, Lyon Turin… a huge network of high speed connections between leading European cities is in the process of
being created. One might eventually expect the onset of railway “hubs” based on the air transport model,
hence the development of the concept of very high speed train fleets with flexible and complementary
capacities, just like airline fleets.
(1) TGV is a registered trademark of France’s SNCF railway board
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
Other regions of the world are beginning to show an interest in very high speed rail travel. In Asia, as well
as Japan, already an established player in this market, the technology has now been adopted by Korea.
Soon China will follow suit and expects to build another 3,000 km of high speed railway lines within 15
years.
In January 2008, Argentina confirmed its plans to build Latin America’s first very high speed railway line,
which was entrusted to a consortium led by Alstom. The 710 km line will cut journey times from BuenosAires to Cordoba to three hours from the current 14 hours. Two other lines are on the drawing board:
Buenos Aires - Mar del Plata (400 km) and Buenos Aires – Mendoza (1200 km). Brazil is also considering
the use of very high speed rail travel as a tool for boosting its socio-economic development, with plans for
a 400 km line between Rio and Sao-Paulo.
Various countries in North Africa and the Middle East are in the process of launching major railway
programmes spanning the next ten years. In October 2007, Morocco signed an agreement with France
which should pave the way for the construction of a 300 km high speed railway line between Tangiers and
Casablanca. The construction of the line was entrusted to Alstom and to its partners. The plan is to extend
it eventually up to Marrakech. This line will be the first phase of a 1,500 km project aiming to connect the
country’s main cities. Saudi Arabia has issued an invitation to tender for a high speed railway line between
the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, via Jeddah, and Alstom and its partner Bouygues have been
shortlisted to submit bids. Algeria and the United Arab Emirates are also looking into building high speed
rail links.
Even the United States has begun to express renewed interest in building modern and fast railway lines. In
early May 2007, the Governor of California declared that he was in favour of financing a line from SanDiego to San-Francisco via Los-Angeles.
Alstom broadens its product range with the most advanced technology in the
world
Thanks to its 25 years’ experience and its technological advances, Alstom is the world leader in the market
for very high speed trains. The company has produced 70% of the very high speed trains which are
currently running worldwide at speeds of 300 kph and above. Since the launch of the first TGV in 1981,
Alstom has sold 650 very high speed trains. These have travelled a total of more than 2 billion kilometres
(6,500 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon), and have carried 1.6 billion passengers; their
commercial speeds have increased from 260 kph to 320 kph and they have set three world rail speed
records: 381 kph in 1981, 515.3 kph in 1990 and 574.8 kph in 2007.
In order to retain its leadership and successfully meet the expectations of this expanding market, Alstom
has launched the brand new Automotrice à Grande Vitesse (AGV) to complete its range of high speed and
very high speed trains, which already features the Pendolino and TGV Duplex. By covering the entire range
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
of speeds on the market, from 250 to 360 kph, Alstom has the broadest portfolio of trains in this market
segment, giving it a key competitive advantage.
In 2003, Alstom decided to anticipate the requirements of the high speed rail travel sector by launching a
project to develop a fourth generation very high speed train, fully financed internally, without any clientimposed specifications, a radical step in the railway industry.
As the crowning achievement of Alstom’s 25 years of know-how, the AGV is a completely new concept.
Based on the principle of “useful innovation”, its architecture and facilities have been designed with a
specific aim in mind: to offer unparalleled performance and reliability at the lowest possible cost so as to
provide operators with concrete benefits in terms of safety, comfort, respect of the environment and low
cost of ownership.
The world rail speed record, 574.8 kph, which was set jointly with SNCF and RFF in April 2007, was a
demonstration of this mastery of very high speed rail technology. There is a gap of more than 200 kph
between the speed achieved by the train which set the world speed record and the commercial speed of
the AGV. This represents an unparalleled safety margin for both passengers and operators and it paves the
way for considerable progress in future generations of high speed trains. Finally, it is, above all, a
guarantee of reliability for operators who are looking to turn very high speed rail travel into a strategic
vector of growth.
Created using the most advanced digital design tools, the AGV is the first train in the world to combine an
articulated architecture with a distributed drive system based on permanent magnet motors. The AGV is
particularly environmentally friendly, being constructed out of recyclable materials and specifically
designed to achieve the lowest possible weight. As such, it offers a number of significant benefits to
railway operators: modularity, which opens up new prospects for managing fleets of trains based on
demand for rail services, low cost of ownership and easy cross-border operation thanks to its signalling
equipment which conforms to the latest European standards and recommendations.
The development of the AGV required the mobilisation of all of Alstom Transport’s “Centres of Excellence”.
160 engineers and researchers were involved in the design and production of the AGV, including experts in
such fields as aero acoustics, power electronics, railway dynamics, design, braking and welding processes.
In keeping with Alstom’s industrial organisation, its La Rochelle (France) plant, the Centre of Excellence
for high speed and very high speed trains, was tasked with designing and producing the trains up to the
validation for serial production stage. The complementary nature of Alstom’s sites is demonstrated by the
fact that the traction chain of the AGV prototype was produced in Tarbes, the bogies at Le Creusot, the
control electronics at Villeurbanne, the traction motors at Ornans, the crash protection system at
Reichshoffen and the body shells and assembly at La Rochelle. Alstom’s site in Bologna, Italy, was in
charge of producing the signalling systems. During the design phase of the prototype, Alstom Transport set
up a project team in La Rochelle consisting of 30 people drawn from its various sites. Their role was to
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
provide solutions in real time for the train’s development. Among them, a number of engineers were in
charge of optimising the train’s design for easy and economic maintenance.
Alstom was able to keep design costs low by capitalising on its 25 year track record in designing and
producing high speed trains. Alstom was also able to draw on the results of the extensive tests which it
had carried out on the Elisa train prototype. The tests explored the dynamic behaviour of articulated trains,
aerodynamic phenomena, the cooling of components at very high speeds as well as the acoustics inside
and outside the trains. The data gathered was reused for the AGV project.
Unique architecture, technologies and design
The AGV is based on an articulated architecture, the same principle which gave a major technological
advantage to the TGV. This architecture involves positioning the bogies (axles and wheels) between the
carriages of a train, contrary to their traditional positioning under the carriages. This technology eliminates
most of the vibrations and noise caused inside the carriages by the train running on the tracks, as well as
damping any movement between the carriages. Above all, this architecture provides a tremendous safety
advantage: the fact that the carriages are tightly meshed together renders the train as a whole more rigid.
Thus in case of a derailment, it does not deform (unlike a non-articulated train which will have a tendency
to fold up “like an accordion”); the AGV will remain upright and in one piece.
The main innovation retained for the AGV involves combining this articulation technology with a
distributed drive system. This is achieved by locating the train’s motors under the floor of the carriages
rather than concentrating them in dedicated locomotives at the front and back of the train. The removal of
the locomotives increases the capacity of the train. For an equal train length, AGV trains have 20% more
space than traditional trains, and this additional space can be adapted to suit an operator’s requirements:
either to increase the number of seats on the train, or to host special facilities such as lounges, leisure
areas or working areas.
Another innovation found in the AGV is the use of synchronous permanent magnet motors to provide
electro-dynamic traction and braking. When fitted with six drive bogies in its 11 car configuration (360
kph), the AGV generates massive, unparalleled power of 22.6 kW/ton, 23% higher than its main
competitor.
The use of permanent magnet motors provides several advantages:
•
•
•
An excellent power/weight ratio (greater than 1 kW/kg versus 0.8 kW/kg for previous generations of
motors) and greater compactness for more convenient installation on the bogies;
Simpler ventilation circuits making maintenance easier and providing greater reliability;
Lower energy consumption, thanks to an efficiency ratio which is greater than that of an
asynchronous electric motor and thanks to a highly simplified drive train.
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
The combination of these technologies, which is unique to Alstom, contributed to the performance of the
train which set the world rail speed record on 3 April 2007.
Once the mix of technologies to be used on the AGV had been determined, the next step was to work on
the train’s form. The initial sketches of the AGV were drawn in keeping with the guidelines laid down in
the project’s technical specifications. The train’s external appearance was to be influenced by designs
drawn from the field of aerospace, and specifically military fighter aircraft, which epitomise high speed.
In early 2005, Alstom Transport’s team of 20 designers and model artists came up with four alternative
design concepts, which already sketched out the outlines of the now familiar powerful appearance of the
AGV. The train’s sharply drawn out features instantly project an appearance of futuristic high speed. In a
bid to cut development times and costs, Alstom drew inspiration from the process design methods used in
industries with short product cycles, such as the car industry. The AGV was almost completely designed,
from start to finish, using digital design tools, which enabled Alstom to save on the costs of creating
physical mock-ups. In 2005, the first mock-up of the train was showcased at the Eurailspeed trade fair in
Milan, Italy. Its design was subsequently fine-tuned and developed until it was finalised in mid-2006.
With its combination of clean lines, fluid forms and structured volumes, the final design of the AGV
projects simplicity and power. The front end of the train, with its Alstom badge, epitomises the personality
of the train. Looked at head on, the front of the AGV appears to have been cast in one piece, and with its
twin dual lights and huge canopy, it clearly evokes the cockpits of fighter aircraft. The train’s broad
shoulders, marked out by the air deflectors on the bogies, and its long nose, are characteristic elements of
its appearance. The AGV is not only impressive in terms of its shape, it is also highly glamorous. Designed
specifically to achieve very high speeds, the AGV’s appearance has been dictated by the laws of
aerodynamics. The livery of the first prototype, in metallic grey and deep blue, underscores the train’s
pedigree of cutting-edge technology.
The AGV, a train designed with environmental concerns in mind
The design and development of the AGV were heavily influenced throughout by environmental
considerations, heightened by concerns over the rising cost of energy and growing urbanisation.
Containing around 98% of easily recyclable or reusable materials (aluminium, steel, copper and glass), the
AGV fits the definition of a sustainable mode of transport with very small greenhouse gas emissions. The
AGV only emits 2.2 grams of CO2 per passenger km, 13 times less than a bus (30 grams), 50 times less
than a car (115 grams) and 70 times less than a plane (153 grams) 1 .
1
Source: ADEME; refers to the rate of CO2 emissions per kW/h of electricity produced in France.
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
The AGV is also capable of producing and using its own electricity. Its braking system consists of a
combined rheostat brake and energy recovery brake. When the energy generated by the motors during the
braking phase is not being consumed by the train, it can be fed back into the electric grid. During braking
phases, the power which is fed back into the grid can reach 8 MW.
Minimising noise was another environmental aspect which Alstom’s engineers have tried particularly hard
to address. Normally, a modern train running at 330 kph generates twice as much noise as when it is
running at 300 kph. In addition to using noise insulation materials and to positioning the bogies between
the carriages to limit the noise produced by the train on the tracks, the main research effort focused on
improving the aero-acoustics of the AGV, and of the lead carriage in particular. Thanks to the specially
designed shape of its nose and the addition of air deflectors on the bogies, Alstom has been able to keep
the noise inside the AGV when travelling at 360 kph at the same level as those of its main competitors
when they are running at 300 or 320 kph.
When it comes to speed, there has been a long-standing challenge to achieve commercial speeds of 360
kph in a train in order to cross the symbolic threshold of travelling 1000 km in 3 hours. The AGV was
specifically designed to achieve such speeds, with the aim of increasing the attractiveness of rail travel
over other means of transport. A journey from Paris to Toulouse in France, for instance, might only take
2.5 hours with the AGV instead of 5 hours today. Similarly, a journey from Moscow to Saint Petersburg
would only take 2.5 hours instead of 8 hours today.
In order to travel further, faster, the AGV has also been designed to travel seamlessly across borders. It is
the first very high speed train to have been designed from the top down in keeping with the European
Union’s ITS (Interoperability Technical Specification) standards:
•
Interoperability: the AGV is fitted with the Atlas technology, developed by Alstom as part of the
development of ERTMS 2 . The train driver’s desk was also designed in keeping with the
recommendations of the EU-DD workgroup 3 , which are designed to make it as easy as possible for
train drivers, whatever their nationality, to learn how to operate any train’s controls. Be they French,
Italian or German, train drivers will easily find their bearings at the controls of the AGV;
•
Drive train: the train’s motors are equipped with the latest innovations in power electronics, enabling
the AGV to operate on all four types of railway electricity supplies in use in Europe: 1500 Volts, 3000
Volts, 15000 Volts, and 25000 Volts, the latter being more extensively used in the rest of the world;
•
Safety: the crash modules of the front and rear carriages were developed in keeping with the
standards laid down by the European Union. They can absorb shocks of more than 4.5 megajoules
without any deformation occurring to the train driver’s cabin.
2
3
European Rail Traffic Management System.
European Driver’s Desk.
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
The AGV features advanced modularity
Not only is the AGV designed for seamless cross-border travel, it is also highly modular. It was designed to
be adaptable to the specific requirements of train operators and to the characteristics of the lines on which
it would have to run. The AGV’s architecture is the key to this modularity. Thanks to the fact that they are
articulated and powered by a distributed drive system, train operators can alter the length of their AGV
trains while maintaining their technical characteristics. The AGV may thus be configured, based on its
operators’ preference, in trains of 7, 8, 11 or 14 carriages. Depending on the chosen configuration, the
train’s capacity ranges from 250 to 650 passengers.
The AGV’s modularity is also synonymous with flexibility. Operators of AGV trains will find it easier to finetune the circulation plans of their very high speed trains. For instance, trains originating from several
stations and running on normal railway lines might be made to join up in order to travel together on a
certain trunk line at a very high speed, before separating off and continuing their respective journeys
towards different destinations. This could be particularly advantageous in light of the changing patterns of
train use over a given year (school holidays, long weekends, etc.). the AGV opens up new prospects to
operators by introducing, in a similar way to air travel, the concepts of train fleets and railway hubs. This is
nothing short of revolutionary for the railway transport sector.
The principle of modularity also extends to the interior layout of the AGV’s carriages. The AGV’s
architecture provides great latitude to operators in determining the internal configuration of their trains.
There are many possible configurations: for instance, AGV trains can be configured into traditional first and
second class or they can include a business class, meeting rooms, leisure and relaxation areas. Depending
on the particular requirements of train operators, one might eventually see AGV trains specifically
configured for weekends, holidays or business travel, and featuring different facilities (baggage areas,
areas for stowing bicycles, etc.). Moreover, the body shell of the AGV’s carriages was specifically designed
to foster easy upgradeability of the train’s interior design and layout throughout its life cycle. It will thus be
easy to transform an AGV train which was initially designed to link two major cities and which was mainly
used to carry business people, into a train designed mainly for tourist travel.
The AGV was designed from the top down to minimise cost of ownership. Purchase costs, operating costs
and maintenance costs as well as refurbishment costs were all taken into consideration from a very early
stage in the design and development process in a bid to minimise the expenditure required from an
operator running an AGV train over its 40 year useful lifespan.
For instance, Alstom tasked its engineers with reducing the weight of the AGV to the bare minimum. In
order to do so, they optimised the design of the train’s bodyshells, lightening its metal parts, designing it to
have an exterior skin only 2.5 mm wide, and incorporating composite materials in the transverse sections
linking the bogies to the carriage bodyshells. The AGV weighs 70 tons, 17% less than its main competitors
(assuming an equal train length), and it consumes around 15% less energy than the latter. For a fleet of
100 AGV trains, these figures would yield net yearly savings of around €5 million and would mean 22,000
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The AGV, a new and revolutionary very high speed train
less tons CO2 emitted. In oil equivalent terms, the AGV consumes only 0.4 litres of oil per 100 passenger
km – 3 times less than a bus (1.2 litres), 8 times less than a car (2 to 3 litres) and 15 times less than a
plane (5 to 7 litres).
The articulated architecture of the AGV also yields another benefit: lower maintenance costs. Using such
an architecture means that 25% less bogies are needed than on non-articulated trains: in its 11 carriage
configuration, the AGV only has 12 bogies versus 16 in competing trains. The cost of maintaining bogies
accounts for around 35% of the total cost of maintaining a very high speed train. Another development
example which is designed to reduce the cost of ownership: the wheels of the AGV were designed to
provide 15% greater resistance to wear than those of the other trains on the market. This all means that
overall, the maintenance costs of an AGV train are around 15% lower than those of its main competitors.
Apart from issues of technical performance, the AGV is also designed to meet the latest expectations of its
passengers in terms of comfort, accessibility and movement onboard the train. With the AGV, Alstom has
clearly anticipated passengers’ expectations. Because technical considerations must yield to the comfort
and convenience of passengers, the design teams worked with the technical teams on fine-tuning the
comfort and convenience of the AGV’s interiors, optimising the layout and ease of movement onboard the
trains.
•
The AGV is the most spacious train on the market: in addition to its use of an articulated architecture
with distributed drive system which saves space and increases the effective length of the train, the
AGV offers unparalleled carriage widths. The AGV’s internal width of 2.75 metres (3 metres external
width) is unmatched. The extra space (around 100 mm) can be used to enhance the well-being and
comfort of the train’s passengers.
•
A lot of thought has gone into making the AGV accessible to persons with mobility impairments.
Persons in wheelchairs, parents with pushchairs, old people carrying luggage… all need to access the
trains with minimum effort. The increase in the number of access points, the use of a low floor
throughout the train, the closing of the gaps between the platform and the train all facilitate access to
and circulation in and between the carriages. Another example: the height of the two 200 mm steps
used to climb on board the AGV is optimum for providing access to persons with mobility impairments
(ITS specifications). The train’s particularly wide corridors and links between carriages enable two
people to walk past one another comfortably.
•
A train’s interior atmosphere contributes to passengers’ comfort and convenience. Alstom’s designers,
working to increase the luminosity and clarity on board their trains, have explored new avenues for
the lighting, the colours and the materials used inside the carriages of the AGV. First and foremost,
the AGV has been designed to maximise the use of daylight thanks to its very large side windows
(which are 15% larger than those of its competitors). All types of materials may be used as part of the
decoration of the interiors, provided that they meet appropriate safety standards. As for the possible
colour schemes, the choice is infinite. A range of interior design schemes can be proposed and adapted
based on the requirements of each train operator.
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