Permanent magnet gearless traction drive for German high speed train ICE 3

Two different designs of permanent magnet motors as direct wheel-set drive for the German high speed train ICE 3 are designed, one with surface mounted magnets (SM) and one with buried rotor magnets (BM). The surface magnet motor has $17\%$ less mass and a slightly higher efficiency and was therefore chosen for further investigations. Compared with the conventional drive system of the ICE 3, consisting of geared inverter fed induction machines, the gearless permanent magnet direct drive yields about $16\%$ lower losses. This calculation is based on the route parameters of the high speed track between Frankfurt/Main and Cologne in Germany, which is currently under construction.