Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
September 20, 2011
Tokyo, September 20, 2011 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE:6501) today announced that it has developed an "integrated railway systems simulator", which contributes to developing systems that meet the needs of local railway operators, including the improvement of transportation capability and saving energy costs. In the global market, especially outside of Japan, manufacturers are required to provide proposals covering whole railway systems. To expand its global railway systems business, Hitachi will apply this simulator and thereby strengthen its capability in this area.
In the global railway markets, railway operators require manufacturers to provide proposals considering a broad range of items, such as differences in power-feed equipment used by different countries and lines, variations in types of rolling stock, and services passing through electrified and non-electrified zones. Hitachi's new simulator will be able to evaluate whole railway systems from a comprehensive viewpoint, by simulating large-scale railway systems in consideration of coordination between multiple types of equipment, such as rolling stock, signaling, traffic control, and feeding equipment. It also has the capability to evaluate the effects of changes of conditions, further facilitating the installation of new facilities and equipment in line with technological advances. By applying this simulator, Hitachi will be able to realize optimal equipment location and appropriate energy allocation. Consequently, Hitachi will be able to provide solutions that match global railway infrastructure improvement plans by leveraging the simulation capability.
In recent years, railway systems have been introduced in various countries around the world as an environmentally friendly mode of transportation, and the demand of railway markets is growing strongly in the global arena. As for the international market for railway systems, it is necessary that a manufacturer makes proposals for whole railway systems. In addition, it is necessary to swiftly estimate energy costs in consideration of a variety of complex transportation needs, for example, the differentiation of power-supply systems, AC/DC, and safety standards in different countries as well as operation in electrified and non-electrified zones. In the case of conventional simulators, which simulate stand-alone operations of single-facility models, it is problematic that optimal evaluation of a whole railway system requires a considerable amount of time. With this problem in mind, Hitachi has developed an integrated simulator for railway systems which can evaluate a whole railway system from a comprehensive viewpoint by taking into account interactions between all pieces of equipment and facilities. The key technical features of the developed simulator are summarized as follows.
When this simulator is applied, by adding an electrical storage device model to a rolling stock equipment model and a power equipment model, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate energy savings owing to installation of electrical-storage devices in rolling-stock equipment or in above-ground equipment. Consequently, it is possible to propose the most appropriate railway systems that utilize electrical-storage devices. In addition, it is possible to estimate energy consumption of combined multiple railway sub-systems such as fluctuation of substation power consumption, which depends on substation capacity and headway, devise measures for improving energy saving and transportation capacity, and propose optimum railway systems that match improvement plans for railway infrastructures in different countries around the world.
From now onwards, this simulator will be applied to globally expanding Hitachi's domestically established technologies in the main systems of rolling stock, signaling, and traffic control, and power feed equipment.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2010 (ended March 31, 2011) consolidated revenues totaled 9,315 billion yen ($112.2 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.