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How much weight could you save?

When specifying flooring for your rolling stock, no matter what the type of service, we know that the chosen product has many considerations to fulfil. Fire and toxicity compliance, good visual design, durability and ease of cleaning are all imperative, but perhaps the factor with the most impact on the project is the weight of the floor.

With the gradual phasing out of diesel-powered locomotives, the weight of our rolling stock becomes a greater concern as fuel efficiency becomes ever more key. So how much weight, and energy, could you save by choosing a lighter-weight floor?

Taking a Bombardier multilevel three twelve-car EMU train set, we’ve done the math for you. When comparing the weight of Altro Transflor Tungsten, our HL-2 compliant acrylic rail safety floor, with other products on the market if used on this train set, here are the results:

Altro Transflor Tungsten installed on the Stuttgarter Strassenbahnen.

 

Taking a twelve-car train set, we’ve done the math for you. When comparing the weight of Altro Transflor Tungsten, our HL-2 compliant acrylic rail safety floor, with other products on the market if used, here are the results:
 

 

Altro Transflor Tungsten

Rubber alternative

Vinyl alternative

Natural material alternative

Bombardier multilevel 3 (12-car) 10,936.6lbs 13,610lbs

(+2673.39lbs)

11,544.02lbs

(+607.59lbs)

11,548.32lbs

(+810.11lbs)

By using an Altro acrylic floor, you could save over a ton – around the same as two grand pianos – against a rubber alternative, or up to 809lbs against natural material alternatives. That’s about the weight of thirty gold bars, and possibly just as valuable.

None of us want to carry around excessive amounts of building bricks if we don’t have to – extra weight means wasted energy. Of course there are many variables, out of the operators’ control, which affect energy efficiency, such as how many stops a route takes, if the service is delayed, how many passengers are aboard, even down to the topography of the route. What can be controlled is the weight of the train set itself, and the implications can be massive. How many service miles could you save? How many homes could be powered with the energy you’d save – and how much money would that save you? It could be more than you’d think.

Here at Altro we can suggest the best way to save weight on your rail fleets using our quality product and installation solutions. Take the first step to improving the efficiency of your rolling stock: for detailed information on how much weight and energy you could save, based on your individual set and service, get in contact with us.