Successful crash test for CIVIA 3 at Reichshoffen

The exercise was designed to test passive safety, validating
the digital models produced by the application engineers at the
Barcelona, Savigliano and Reichshoffen sites. Francisco
Montero, Civia 3 project manager for RENFE, was satisfied with
the test, saying it: confirmed the compliance of the
equipment with the European passive safety standard. The
crash took place at 40km/h with a 60-tonne wagon.

Pierre Huss, Core Competency Leader for
passive safety at Alstom Transport, also declared himself
satisfied with the way the test had gone: the
model behaved as we expected: the cabin didnt become
deformed, the absorbers played their role to the full.


Fabien Tijou, technical head of crash tests at
Reichshoffen, was similarly satisfied with the data acquired
via digital cameras that take 2,000 pictures a second, in
particular the new one placed beneath the model.


RENFE, the Spanish national railway operator, awarded ALSTOM a
contract in January 2006 for the supply and maintenance of
modular CIVIA suburban trains. Thanks to their modular nature,
the trainsets can be configured to suit the operating
requirements of each line served.



*
passive safety: unlike active safety, which
has to do with the resources employed to avoid accidents,
passive safety seeks to limit the effects of an accident
(thanks to the installation of protection at the front of the
cabin).