A British engineering firm has developed a variable seating system for train carriages, allowing train operators to reconfigure specific carriages to carry either passengers or high-value cargo as required.
42 Technology has announced its ‘Adaptable Carriage’ system, which allows the seats and tables within a passenger train carriage to be automatically stowed to create space for ‘low density, high value’ packages and other cargo that would otherwise go by road.
The company exhibited the technology at last week's Railtex exhibition in Birmingham, saying it is fully compatible with both steel-frame and modern aluminium train carriage designs using cantilevered seats. The seat mechanisms have been specifically engineered to add minimal extra weight to the carriage compared with existing industry-standard seats.
All the seats, tables and draught screens within each section of an Adaptable Carriage are connected together and can be moved along the length of the carriage via a system that also acts to cover the working mechanism in passenger configuration. The control system ensures that all seats are safely secured in both the passenger and cargo-carrying configurations, and it can be readily integrated with the carriage control system to automate door locking ensuring complete passenger safety.
The reconfiguration process is fully automated, takes under three minutes to complete and as a result the 20 rows of seats in a typical passenger carriage (with four seats per row) can be compressed to create cargo space equivalent to the capacity of an articulated truck.
The system has been developed as part of a two year program funded by the British Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) with input from the British rail industry.
“Adaptable Carriage is an example of what can be achieved when the UK rail industry partners with a cross-sector innovation consultancy to deliver solutions to specific rail challenges,” said RSSB Technical Director Chris Lawrence.
[A set of seats compressed to make room for cargo. Image: 42 Technology]
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