Wagner Rail GmbH, a subsidiary of Wagner Group GmbH, which specialises in fire protection solutions for rail vehicles worldwide, has developed a fire protection solution that extinguishes fires in open, highly ventilated technical areas in moving trains.
The effective extinguishing of fires in these train areas, even while the train is moving at high speed and without having to slow down or interrupt the journey, is unique worldwide to date. The innovative extinguishing process was developed on the basis of extensive test series carried out in cooperation with TÜV Süd Rail.
An essential part of holistic fire protection solutions for rail vehicles is extinguishing fires in technical areas such as transformers, converters or diesel engines. These areas are usually equipped with several non-closable openings through which ventilation takes place. As a result, air currents are created inside these technical areas while the vehicle is in motion. For effective fire extinguishing, these air currents pose a major challenge. Until now, trains had to reduce speed or stop the journey completely to extinguish fires safely.
“In cooperation with TÜV Süd Rail and in compliance with the railroad guideline ARGE Part 2 ‘Fire fighting in railway vehicles’, we conducted an extensive series of tests from August 15th to 31st, 2022, in which fire scenarios were tested under various ventilation situations,” said Dr. Peter Stahl, Managing Director of Wagner Rail GmbH, explaining the research and development work for the novel process. “The aim of the tests was to completely extinguish fires in technical areas of the train while it was in motion. With the help of the test series, it was successfully demonstrated that simulated fires, which were fanned by driving winds and air speeds of over 100 km/h acting laterally on the train, were completely extinguished using aerosol extinguishing agents,” continued Dr. Peter Stahl.
”We congratulate our colleagues on this innovative solution. It is exemplary for Wagner: We are pioneers and develop holistic, trendsetting fire protection solutions that are used worldwide,” says graduate engineer Werner Wagner, Managing Director and Partner, Wagner Group GmbH. According to the company, Wagner Rail has so far been the only supplier in the industry to offer an effective fire protection solution for technical areas in moving trains.
