On December 13th the French National Railways (SNCF) inaugurated its first Francilien commuter train on the H line of the busy Paris-Ile de France suburban network.
These state-of-the-art trains are jam-packed with innovative technology! Some of this technology will see trains equipped with systems using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
This project is part of a decision that became a law in 2005, to make public transport widely accessible to people with reduced mobility; PMR project.
Located at Crespin near Valenciennes in the north of France, BOMBARDIER had developed at the SNCF’s request, an on-board system situated under the train doors that fills the space between the train and the raised platform making access possible for all wheelchair users.
The RFID system developed by BALOGH and manufactured in its factory in Pont L’Eveque, Normandie, France, will detect the correct position the train and trigger a “bridge” system to enable easy access for wheelchairs to cross the gap between the train and the platform.
In the near future, all Paris/Ile de France stations using SPACIUM trains will be identified as accessible to wheelchair users.
After an initial order of 172 Francilien commuter trains, there could an additional 200 as optional. 70 trains of the 200 additional could be ordered in early 2010.
The system for detecting areas of wheelchair accessibility includes the following:
– 2 Balogh RFID readers positioned 3m apart, installed at the front and rear of the Bombardier Spacium train at the wheelchair access zone doors
– On the nose of the platform (raised or not) at 920mm, 6 encoded Balogh RFID tags cover at least 9m of the platform
The presence of the reader in front of the electronic tags trigger a blue light in the driver’s cabin which enables the final braking and activates the automatic opening of the wheelchair zone doors.
This new automatic detection system ensures the smooth functioning of the “bridge” device.
The principles of “redundancy” ensure high system reliability even allowing simultaneous failure of a reader and an electronic tag with zero consequences.
A promising future is in perspective for this system. It could be a standard feature in not only French but all European stations making transportation friendlier to wheelchair passengers.