The world’s first carbon fibre bogie (CAFIBO), developed by British company ELG Carbon Fibre in collaboration with the University of Huddersfield’s Institute for Railway Research, was unveiled.
The bogie, which is made entirely out of surplus and recycled carbon fibre materials, was presented to over 100 industry delegates at the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Unlocking Innovation event at the University of Huddersfield.
The new CAFIBO bogie is lighter than conventional bogies and optimises vertical and transverse stiffness. This bogie will:
- reduce track wear and infrastructure maintenance costs by reducing vertical and transverse loads on the rails
- improve reliability and operational availability through an embedded health monitoring system
- reduce energy consumption and hence global warming footprint
The bogie is being developed as part of a two-year programme delivered by a consortium of companies comprising of ELG Carbon Fibre, Magma Structures, the University of Birmingham and the University of Huddersfield with additional support from Alstom.
-
-
13 December 2019
