00:00At very low temperatures, rubber components get stiff and break apart.
00:06Entire electronic systems can fail too.
00:12One part of our rain system, here we are controlling the water flow
00:16and can let it rain or make an ice rain as well.
00:22Gabriel Haller is the mastermind behind the world's only climatic wind tunnel
00:26that can fit an entire train.
00:28One click is enough to lower the temperature to minus 45 degrees Celsius
00:33or increase the wind speed to 250 kilometers per hour.
00:38We do not have to wait for the next extreme winter.
00:43We can simulate it.
00:45We are guiding the air through a fan, downstream,
00:49then to the test section and there we are testing the test objects.
00:54China's state-owned train manufacturer CRRC
00:57has been using the Viennese wind tunnel for over 10 years,
01:01most recently to test the windscreen wipers of its Bison locomotive.
01:06The multiple voltage freight train, which can operate on different countries' rail tracks,
01:11is to begin running in Hungary soon.
01:13It will be operated by a subsidiary of Austrian Railways.
01:18CRRC has big plans for Europe's competitive railway market.
01:22After basing its continental headquarters here in Vienna,
01:26China's biggest train producer has bought a locomotive production site in Germany
01:31and is now test-driving its Bison train in Hungary,
01:34ready for operation across Central and Eastern Europe.
01:39In 2023 CRRC and Vienna's RTA wind tunnel
01:43signed a memorandum of understanding to intensify future joint research.
01:48Research cooperation with CRRC is dealing with snow and ice accumulation on certain components
01:55and we can validate their research activities by doing real tests.
02:02In extreme weather, the proper functioning of pantographs,
02:06the train top apparatus which collects power from an overhead line,
02:09can prevent delays and line failures.
02:12Vehicle tests like the ones in the Austrian capital are essential not just for reliability
02:17but also for safety during adverse weather conditions.
02:20Johannes Blechberger, CJTN, Vienna.
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