Monitoring railway

Electrical Safety for Passenger Rail and Freight Cars

Railcars

Passenger and freight trains need reliable and safe electrical power, which is why Bender provides electrical safety solutions for passenger and freight trains. This power is produced using a diesel generator or fed into the vehicle from an overhead line or third rail. These drive systems onboard the locomotives or rail cars are generally ungrounded and must be safeguarded using a particular ground-fault monitoring device. Bender ground-fault monitoring devices come in a rail variant to meet the specific shock, vibration, and temperature-resistance requirements. Grounded power supplies can be protected via residual current monitors and voltage relays.

The benefit of fault-finding translates into fewer train delays and improved customer service with reduced associated costs for rail operators. More than 50% of rail signaling power supply issues result from ground faults where damage or deterioration of a cable or its insulating covering will eventually lead to failure, impacting the safety and efficiency of rail operations. Since rail signaling systems are typically ungrounded, a faulted circuit could change a signal's state or trigger the train's shutdown. On ungrounded systems, the first ground fault can often go undetected for days or months, or worse, until a devastating second ground fault occurs while the first fault remains. Critical faults that emerge at lower intervention/insulation limits are even more challenging to track and pinpoint and therefore present a more significant challenge.

Passenger and Freight Railcars

The rail cars in passenger trains and refrigerated rail cars for freight transport need separate power supplies. Bender can detect faults early and quickly pinpoint them using ground-fault location devices for grounded and ungrounded applications. This reduces the potential risk for passengers, crew, and equipment and saves valuable maintenance and repair time.

Train routes in mountainous landscapes lead across a sequence of tunnels and bridges. The route operator must be prepared for anything in a tunnel, including a train accident. There are safeguards in place along the route in case of such a catastrophe. Rescue teams must know they can rely on a functioning power supply in the event of a disaster, and ground-fault monitoring is required. Ground faults can be detected before a critical situation and without cable disconnection with Bender monitoring systems.

Downloads

NameCategorySizeLanguageTimestampD-/B-Number
Product Overview ISOMETER®/ISOSCAN® Product Overviews 5.3 MB EN2024/02/1616.02.2024
2020 Guidelines (US) Technical Information 1.9 MB EN2020/06/1515.06.2020
Overview Brochure Product Overviews 10.3 MB EN2023/10/0202.10.2023
Why the IT System is Often the Best Choice for Power Supply Systems of All Types Technical Article 3.0 MB EN2019/07/1111.07.2019
Predict and Protect - Signal Power Fault Detection Systems Market Segment Brochures 1.7 MB EN2019/05/1313.05.2019
Bender Industry Application Market Segment Brochures 19.1 MB EN2022/08/1919.08.2022
Electrical Safety Solutions for Railways and Transit Systems Market Segment Brochures 6.1 MB EN2020/06/1515.06.20200

Products

Ground-Fault Monitoring, Ungrounded

ISOMETER® isoRW425
ISOMETER® isoRW425

Ground-fault monitoring device for railway applications up to AC/DC 440 V

ISOMETER® isoRW685W-D
ISOMETER® isoRW685W-D

Ground-fault monitoring device tailored to the requirements of railway rolling stock applications

Ground-Fault Monitoring for Grounded Systems

LINETRAXX® SmartDetect RCMS410

Four-channel DC, AC and pulse current sensitive residual current monitor for earthed AC, AC/DC and DC systems

LINETRAXX® RCMS460-D
LINETRAXX® RCMS460-D Blindspot®

Multi-channel AC/DC ground-fault monitor

Measuring and monitoring relays

LINETRAXX® VMD258
LINETRAXX® VMD258

Undervoltage/overvoltage relay for monitoring three-phase AC systems (window discriminator function)

Ground-Fault Location, Ungrounded

ISOSCAN® EDS460-D
ISOSCAN® EDS460-D

- This device series is in the discontinuation phase. -
Deliverable according to availability until 01.01.2025.

ISOSCAN® EDS440
ISOSCAN® EDS440 Series

Ground-fault location module for ungrounded AC/DC systems

Ground-Fault Monitoring, Ungrounded

ISOMETER® isoRW425
ISOMETER® isoRW425

Ground-fault monitoring device for railway applications up to AC/DC 440 V

Details
ISOMETER® isoRW685W-D
ISOMETER® isoRW685W-D

Ground-fault monitoring device tailored to the requirements of railway rolling stock applications

Details

Ground-Fault Monitoring for Grounded Systems

LINETRAXX® SmartDetect RCMS410

Four-channel DC, AC and pulse current sensitive residual current monitor for earthed AC, AC/DC and DC systems

Details
LINETRAXX® RCMS460-D
LINETRAXX® RCMS460-D Blindspot®

Multi-channel AC/DC ground-fault monitor

Details

Measuring and monitoring relays

LINETRAXX® VMD258
LINETRAXX® VMD258

Undervoltage/overvoltage relay for monitoring three-phase AC systems (window discriminator function)

Details

Ground-Fault Location, Ungrounded

ISOSCAN® EDS460-D
ISOSCAN® EDS460-D

- This device series is in the discontinuation phase. -
Deliverable according to availability until 01.01.2025.

Details
ISOSCAN® EDS440
ISOSCAN® EDS440 Series

Ground-fault location module for ungrounded AC/DC systems

Details