Lyon, France

Delivery: 1999

The SYTRAL transport authority has ordered seven new midi-trolleybuses for the trolleybus operation in Lyon, which has run since 1935.

They are to replace the present, 35 years old trolleybuses and to enable continued operation of trolleybuses in Croix-Rousse, a hilly original town with narrow streets full of bends.

The state-of-the-art trolleybus with its low-floor area is particularly user-friendly and stands out with its many ecological advantages.

This vehicle increases the quality of life in the inner city because it drives without exhaust and odour emissions as well as with only low noise emissions. The aluminium construction of the carbody ensures recyclability, a subject that will gain in importance in future. In addition to the ecological aspects reduction in weight, rust protection and high availability were to the fore at the development stage.

The electrical equipment also considers the given objective of cost efficiency as the focus on the overall concept is stronger than usual and because the operator is shown new ways to maintain and repair his vehicles. The following renewals and devices support the operator by the reaching of a favourable cost/benefit ratio during the total service life of the vehicle:

- The hierarchically higher-level electrical Kiepe data bus for the networking of the vehicle components and reduction of the  cabling in the vehicle was taken over from the car industry on a CAN basis and by now Kiepe has many years' experience with its data bus in the rail sector.

- As a result of state-of-the-art electronic  semi-conductors (IGBT: Insulated Gate Bipolar  Transistor) with less building measures it is possible to unite many devices that were spread at different locations in the vehicle till now in a compact roof-mounted equipment container.

- Microprocessor-based controls, control  modules, distributed in the vehicle and  connected via the data bus control and  monitor the electrical components, e.g. the  current collectors and the switchgears.

- By means of Kiepe's well-known diagnostic  concept diagnoses can be made of all important devices, like the three-phase traction inverter, the vehicle control, the on-board converter and the decentral microprocessor-based controls.

- A single PC connection allows the diagnostic  laptop central diagnostic access to all the devices connected to the data bus system.
- The proved three-phase traction equipment with a robust and brush-free asynchronous traction  motor only needs minimum maintenance.

The new design of the roof-mounted equipment container deserves special attention. The well-tried IGBT direct pulse inverter, the IGBT on-board converter, the central control, the braking resistor, the network filter and the device panels for the compressor and heating control are all integrated in this roof-mounted equipment container. The prescribed double insulation is inside the roof equipment container and thus protected from environmental influence. All the active components in the roof equipment container are only temperature dependently force-ventilated with a three-phase fan free of maintenance.

The accessibility for maintenance purposes and fast exchange of units is simple from above via the Kiepe patented hinged cover, which can be opened from both sides and provides access over the respective complete width of the casing.
Kiepe performs extensive functional tests of the complete unit under load, as close to reality as possible and in accordance with its later application. Not until then is it fitted at the vehicle manufacturer.

Moreover, the vehicle control contributes to increased availability because it, in addition to the sequential vehicle control, enables acquisition of operational data, an easily understandable fault diagnosis and data recording, which means that the vehicle drive and the control can be analysed by means of an "off the shelf" PC on the spot or via a modem by the manufacturer.
Moreover, the information transfer of recorded vehicle data from the operators to the manufacturer via the Internet has already been tested and is assessed to be reliable.

The overall concept is superior by the:
- saving in weight,
- low need of cabling in the vehicle,
- easy accessibility to the devices and thus simplified preventive and
  corrective maintenance,
- passive protection in case of traffic accidents as  the vehicle equipment
  is mounted on the roof.

The new vehicle concept with its extensive, easily understandable diagnostic possibilities gives the operator an "easy bus" and sets the economic standards in respect of operation and maintenance.

The secured supply of spare parts from Kiepe's own development and manufacture, which has existed for many years and is known by our customers as user-friendly, is now based on a quality management in accordance with ISO 9001.
Thus, the trolleybus presents itself more impressively than ever before as an important public transport mode of the future.

Download: Lyon_361.pdf (Size: 200.0 KB)