Connected and self-driving vehicles are on the horizon. Autonomous taxis and minibuses could cover the last mile between homes and public mass transit and long-distance transport hubs, helping make private cars superfluous in cities and relieving congestion. In rail transport as well, fully automated systems and connectivity can help satisfy the rapidly growing demand for mobility. Making vehicles and infrastructure more intelligent can ensure better availability and make mobility safer. All this adds up to vastly improved urban environments.
Siemens is working with municipalities, public transit authorities and research institutes to develop these transport concepts.
Labeled as the project of the century for the German metropolitan region, the Rhine-Ruhr express (RRX) will help alleviate the continuously worsening transportation issues along the Rhine and Ruhr from 2018. The municipalities involved in the new RRX rail transport concept commissioned Siemens to supply 82 electric multiple units, type Desiro HC, and to provide maintenance services for a period of 32 years. With a total volume of more than 1.7 billion euros, this is the largest regional rail service order in Germany so far for Siemens.
The region is one of the largest conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately ten million and numerous transit routes. On the main section between Cologne and Dortmund in particular, mobility has been heavily restricted for years now by overstretched public transport networks and train connections. Through a targeted extension of the railway network and the shift of traffic from road to rail this enables, the RRX is expected to replace roughly 31,000 individual car trips every working day. The first RRX trains will begin operating punctually with the change of the rail system's timetable on December 9, 2018. Commercial operation will begin on Line RE 11 that connects Düsseldorf, Essen, Dortmund, Hamm, Paderborn and Kassel. During rush hours the eventual target is one train every 15 minutes.
The photo artist Herlinde Koelbl presents her international “Fascination of Science” project for the first time. She portrays 60 renowned Nobel Prize winners and scientists. Siemens Arts Program supports the project. The opening ceremony will take place at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin on October 2, in the presence of the artist and the Managing Board of Siemens AG.
To increase the reliability of AC grids, improve power quality, and boost transmission efficiency, Siemens Energy successfully implements many and varied projects in transmission systems around the world using state-of-the-art Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS).STATCOM systems, for example, stabilize fluctuations by absorbing or feeding in voltage-supporting reactive power, depending on the requirements. Approximately two-thirds of the globally installed STATCOM systems with modular multilevel converter technology are from Siemens Energy. Based on the technology of conventional static var compensators, Siemens Energy has developed additional innovative solutions, such as the SVC PLUS FS frequency stabilizer and the mobile STATCOM, which stabilize the grid and close gaps in energy systems around the world.
In September 2020 Siemens Energy launched its newest grid stabilization solution: the Unified Power Flow Controller UPFC PLUS. It will help system operators stabilize the grid by dynamically controlling the load flow in alternating-current grids. Easy to integrate into existing infrastructure, the UPFC PLUS improves the efficiency of today’s power grid while providing the grid stability and resilience required in the ever-changing energy landscape.
Siemens Mobility's Vectron locomotives are used for both freight and passenger service. During the development of the locomotive, the focus was on providing a future-proof design, investment security, environmental compatibility, fungibility, retrofitting capability and convertibility. The Vectron can be delivered as a purely electrical version for operating with alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power systems as well as a multisystem (MS) variant in the power classes 5.2 MW, 5.6 MW and 6.4 MW. Along with the desired national train control system, the locomotives can also be equipped with the latest European Train Control System (ETCS). The locomotives are built in the Siemens Mobility plant in Munich-Allach, Germany. The first Vectron was delivered in 2012. Siemens Mobility has sold over 1,000 Vectrons to date to a total of 49 customers. The Vectron fleet has accumulated more than 300 million kilometers of service so far. The locomotives are currently certified for operation in 19 countries. For freight transport in Germany, Siemens Mobility also offers the Smartron standard locomotive and the Vectron Dual Mode, a combination of diesel and electric locomotive.
Less
diesel, less CO2, even greener: DB Cargo is renewing its fleet of shunting and
mainline locomotives and is procuring new Vectron Dual Mode dual-power
locomotives from Siemens Mobility. The framework agreement comprises up to 400
vehicles and investment volume corresponds to well over one billion Euros.
The locomotives
of the type Vectron Dual Mode will be delivered with specific adaptations for
the range of applications planned by DB Cargo. The locomotives can be operated
both with diesel and electric power.
In the
first instance, DB Cargo will order 100 locomotives of the class 248. Delivery
will start in 2023.
Every plant or asset is documented in data. All this data and information is scattered across various platforms and various formats. It is not contextualized nor is it easily accessible. It is simply not data you can rely on. That is where PlantSight comes in. PlantSight consolidates the assets of a plant, by bringing together different types of data (1D, 2D, or 3D) from different sources into a single source of truth.
Around 10.400 young men and women worldwide – thereof around 7,300 in Germany – are currently enrolled in training or two-track programs at Siemens, making the industrial company one of the largest most innovative private providers of such programs in the world. Due to the great success of the German model, Siemens is increasingly offering two-track training, which combines theory and practice, to young people in countries outside Germany, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South Africa, India and the UK. These programs offer instruction in a wide range of commercial and, above all, technical fields. Courses are constantly being updated in a targeted fashion to prepare young people for the challenges of the future.Since the training year 2017, Siemens has integrated relevant digitalization topics, such as data analytics, software development and data security, in the company's curricula for all its apprenticeship and work-study programs. Didactic and methodological teaching approaches were also revised to accommodate the digital transformation of the programs’ training content and of the occupational subject matter.
“Occupational training is foundational for our company’s future. One clear focus of our training program is on the responsible use of digital technologies, which are bringing enormous change to the working world and to society. For years now, we’ve been continuously adapting our training programs to new requirements, to digital content and to agile teaching methods in order to keep pace with these changes. In this way, we can ensure that our trainees are well prepared for the future,” said Thomas Leubner, who heads the company’s Learning and Education department.
The success of the training system is also shown by the International Tech Apprenticeship@Siemens (ITA@S) program, which was established in 2012, back then under the name Europeans@Siemens. Young people are being sent to Berlin by the Siemens Regional Companies in their respective countries for dual educational training. In the past few years, however, an increasing number of participants have come from countries outside Europe. Consequently, the program now has a new name: ITA@S.
Since the start of the vocational training in Berlin in 1891 more than 165,000 people have undergone training with Siemens in Germany alone.
Siemens is also blazing new trails when it comes to recruiting trainees. In its “MINTfluencer” social-media campaign, short video clips star Siemens trainees as influencers. The campaign name is a word play on “MINT,” which is the German equivalent of science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM).
The German operator
Bremer Straßenbahn AG (BSAG) has ordered a new tram fleet for the Free
Hanseatic City. The order is for 77 Avenio trams. The four-section trains are
to be delivered step by step for service in Bremen's tram network beginning in
the summer of 2020. On August 30, the "Nordlicht" was presented online.