MODELS FOR ESTIMATING ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRIC TRAINS

Abstract

Railway operators are heavy users of electric energy. To implement energy saving programs and to study economical operation strategies, an energy estimating model is required. In this paper, two models for estimating energy consumption of single train operation are presented. To verify the proposed models, a real railway link and an electric train from Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) are selected for the experiment. The energy consumption estimated from the proposed model is then compared with that estimated by other commercial software. It is found that the difference is only 0.22%, demonstrating that the proposed models are accurate enough in practice for estimating energy consumption. The models can be further extended to develop models and algorithms for estimating power demand of multiple-train operation and minimizing energy consumption through different driving strategies.