“The project will work on improving the acoustics of urban environments, accessibility and minimising climate change risks”
TECNALIA has signed an agreement with the Department of Sustainable Mobility of the Basque Government, through Euskal Trenbide Sarea (ETS), to develop innovative initiatives for the Basque railway network
The agreement includes research in various fields to improve acoustics in urban environments, accessibility, and to minimise risks from the effects of climate change. TECNALIA will prepare proposals, technically study their feasibility and assess their impact on the different groups and their maintenance.
The Regional Minister for Sustainable Mobility, Susana García Chueca, together with the General Manager of ETS, Antonio López, visited some of TECNALIA’s facilities at Zamudio Technology Park, accompanied by our Managing Director, Jesús Valero. During the visit they were able to see some of the projects that both institutions have carried out in close collaboration.
Phases of the agreement
The newly signed agreement will last for three years and ETS will pay TECNALIA €600,000. In return, the technology centre will work with the public entity's R&D&I department to develop various systems to optimise the three fields they want to promote in different phases.
- The first of these will work on reducing the impact of railway noise and its implementation in pilot tests within the network itself. To this end, they will initially have to carry out an analysis of noise and ground vibration generation (rigidity and curves) on in-service lines to identify solutions. Then they will validate the vibro-acoustic sensing system model and, finally, they will implement the systems and process automation in a prototype of an experimental area for acoustic quality improvement projects and products.
- Another area to be optimised is the accessibility of stations and the platform-train interface. To this end, proposals will be gathered from the different groups of people with disabilities, with the aim of designing and implementing a programme of workshops. The next step will be to carry out a technical analysis of the proposals and mapping of technological challenges. Finally, a catalogue of technical solutions and, where appropriate, proposals for changes to regulations will be drawn up.
- The last area in the agreement is planning and developing methodologies adapted to the railway in the Basque Country, to mitigate or avoid the effects of climate change. In this area, the identification of potential impacts and prioritisation of relevant risks will be addressed first, and then methodological definition and data modelling of key risks will be carried out. Finally, there will be a catalogue of generic adaptation measures around the typology of critical points and elements, the design of an adaptation and monitoring plan, and a pilot case of intervention design.
The Regional Minister for Sustainable Mobility, Susana García Chueca, stressed the importance of the agreement because the objectives are fully aligned with those of the department she leads. “The three lines of work that we are going to tackle with this agreement respond to strategic axes which we have to research even further in the coming years, such as the challenge of climate change and the improvement of people’s quality of life – both the users of our railway services in terms of accessibility and those who live with our infrastructure, in terms of acoustic issues,“ highlighted the Minister.
The Managing Director of TECNALIA, Jesús Valero, explained that “this type of agreement highlights the importance of collaboration to advance in the development of new technologies and boost the competitiveness of mobility companies. At TECNALIA we are committed to the development and implementation of new solutions to move towards the mobility of the future and we work to help companies adapt to the challenges, anticipating any problems that the industry may face. To this end, we develop technologies and new business models that contribute to the change towards a future scenario of low environmental impact, connected, efficient, safe, smart and inclusive mobility, providing technology and innovative developments, such as electrification, automation and driving assistance systems to improve safety and efficiency, and the lightening of vehicles by adapting and including new materials”.
More than 20 years of experience
The collaboration between Euskal Trenbide Sarea and TECNALIA began practically when the public entity was created, two decades ago. During this time, they have jointly developed several different initiatives, including the development and installation of a pilot project for acoustic mini-barriers in the vicinity of Ermua station, quality controls and audits for the execution of the different sections of the Basque Y on the Gipuzkoa branch.
Other research initiatives developed jointly are tests of anti-noise panels with a photovoltaic system to generate electricity; the development of remote track sensor systems and the participation in innovation projects to include recycled materials in railway infrastructure; as well as the preparation of strategic noise maps for both infrastructure and rolling stock and action plans to minimise noise.
