Reducing Train Weight and Simplifying Train Design by Using Active Redundancy of Static Inverters for the Onboard Supply of Rolling Stock

Reliability of onboard power supply systems on rolling stock is a very important issue for the railway operator. While a failure of the HVAC supply results in a loss of comfort for the passengers, a failure of the supply for air compressors or for the traction cooling systems results in towing the train. This is, looking at the required availability of a train, not acceptable. An active redundancy concept for the onboard power supply maximizes the availability of the system. This paper describes such a system under the aspect of $\cdot$ Weight reduction $\cdot$ Continuous operation when changing from normal to redundant operation $\cdot$ Flexibility in train design.