On April 27, 2021, the metro train of Shaoxing City Urban Rail Transit Line 1 (hereinafter referred to as “Shaoxing Line 1”) was delivered at Hebei Manufacturing Workshop of RTTE. The product is featured of low internal noise, obstacle detection and alarm, as well as many other plus points.

A Unique Intelligent Rolling Stock Demonstration Project

RTTE has taken great strength to manufacture the environmentally friendly, safe, advanced, aesthetically pleasing high-quality trains, in accordance with the landscape and portrait of the city of Shaoxing, in pursuit of excellence and continuous innovation in the design concepts, with adherence to the “energy saving, environmental friendliness, safety and reliability, advanced intelligence, aesthetics and comfort” design principles.

Various Sound Insulation and Noise Reduction Technologies to Improve Onboard Comfort

Carbody is drum-shaped with equal cross-section of aluminum alloy profile welded structure, and the surface is painted with environmentally friendly water-based paint. The interior, air ducts, electrical cabinets and equipment enclosures are made of lightweight materials, and the passenger seats are made of metal, which is more environmentally friendly and recyclable than the traditional glass fiber reinforced plastic. The onboard braking resistor is canceled so that the weight reduction reaches 6 tons. The total 27 trains can save more than 27 million RMB in electricity costs during the 30-years life cycle. Benefit from a variety of sound insulation and noise reduction technologies, the noise index in the driver's cab, saloon has reduced by more than 2 decibels compared with ordinary vehicles, largely improving the comfort for the driver and passengers on board. Air conditioning units are equipped with air purification devices for effective sterilization and disinfection.

Three-Stage Energy Absorption Function to Improve Vehicle Safety Performance

In the design of the carbody underframe, stirring friction welding drawbar sustained structure is used on aluminum profile for the first time, leading to higher strength compared with traditional structures. The front end of the head car underframe is designed with deformation energy absorption area, adopting the three-stage energy absorption function with the coupler, anti-climber and carbody to fully meet the requirements of 25 km/h crash impact. The vehicles are also equipped with harmonic filter device, significantly reducing the impact of harmonics generated by frequency conversion air conditioning on the power grid, and improving the electromagnetic compatibility performance. The fire detector set in the driver’s cab, saloon and electrical cabinets can detect the occurrence of fire and send out alarm in time.

Advanced Intelligent Information Technology to Improve Reliability

This is also a “smart” metro train. The train is equipped with an obstacle detection system, which collects information and alerts on obstacles within 200 meters of the track to assist the driver in driving. The train is also equipped with logic control units instead of relays to improve the reliability of the electrical system. Three panoramic cameras are installed in the saloon. When the vehicle fire detector detects fire, when passengers make emergency intercom and when operating the door to unlock in emergency, the cameras can link to the corresponding occurrence position and transmit the real-time picture to the driver. The vehicle pantograph monitoring system monitors and analyzes the working status of the pantograph and catenary network. Each pantograph is equipped with a camera, with which the driver can monitor the receiving current status in real time.

Aesthetic and Ergonomic Design to Give the Train Even More Shaoxing Flavor

The appearance of the head car takes streamlined shape, and the upward-curved headlight outlines the image of “smiling face”, showing the portrait of Shaoxing to welcome visitors from all over the world. The white and black colors of the vehicle complement each other, and the red line color highlights the festive and dignified atmosphere. The longest window ever used on the domestic metro vehicle increases the view for passengers. The interior of saloon and driver’s cab conforms to the principle of ergonomics. The interior design of the saloon is considered very elaborate, and perfectly combines function, aesthetics and Shaoxing city features in a spacious, bright and magnificent manner. The shapes of the saloon windshield and handrail bar are taken from the image of swans, the favorite of Wang Xizhi, the Chinese Calligraphy Sage and a Shaoxing local, bending their necks and heads, swimming gracefully. The glass of the windshield is engraved with an impressionist image of Shaoxing city flower “orchid”.

The route display in the saloon, different from ordinary static display of past and coming stations, has the local water-town pattern and traditional Chinese ink painting as the display background, and uses the water-town signature arch bridges to creatively connect stations on display when the train is running between stations. By and large, the Shaoxing Metro Line 1 vehicles are especially rich in Shaoxing water-town features.