Inspection and Testing Services for Rail Vehicles

Safety and Quality for Railway Technology

Needless to say, vehicle safety is among the chief considerations among railway systems operators. The experts at TÜV Rheinland, who possess many years of experience in rail vehicle inspection, can help your company meet and exceed the required level of safety for rail vehicles. Rail vehicle inspection is a necessary step for achieving certification in a number of regulatory environments. From reviews to commissioning, to approvals of railway technology, TÜV Rheinland brings to our inspections a wealth of knowledge of the intricacies of various rules and regulations.

Our areas of specialization include:

  • Vehicle Dynamics Simulations used for calculating vehicle performance over a section(s) of track
  • Vehicle Inspections of both new railcars and railcars that may have been involved in a derailment
  • Testing & Instrumentation of railcars in order to measure real world vehicle performance
  • Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Interference (EMI) tests and surveys

Benefits at a Glance

With inspection and testing services for rail vehicles from TÜV Rheinland, you can:

  • Meet legal requirements and certify the required safety and quality specifications for your railway network
  • Ensure compliance with due diligence by including us as an independent third party
  • Reduce your risk of liability with proper documentation and certificates
  • Document the required running capacity and vehicle limitations, and compliance with set specifications for comfort and noise limits
  • Demonstrate compliance with domestic and international EMC/EMI specifications, standards and regulations

Our Services for Inspection and Infrastructure of Rail Vehicles

Our experts can provide comprehensive support with inspections and tests, reviews and approvals for railway technology (rolling stock and infrastructure), as well as logistics and services.

Vehicle Dynamic Simulations

TÜV Rheinland utilizes special software analysis tool VAMPIRE® for calculating vehicle dynamics and measuring vehicle performance. VAMPIRE® is a multi-body vehicle dynamics program that predicts a vehicles' dynamic response to various input parameters such as longitudinal force component, track geometry, speed and gravity. TÜV Rheinland engineers evaluate the inputs and outputs with the VAMPIRE® program and determine the vehicles' dynamic stability and the vehicles' dynamic interaction with the track structure.

Vehicle Inspection, Testing & Instrumentation

TÜV Rheinland is well equipped to meet the railway industry's independent testing requirements. Our team of highly qualified, flexible and independent inspectors can provide a wide range of services from independent testing of product performance, complete on-site and off-site inspections to sample quality inspections and documentation..

EMC and EMI Services

Our experienced experts are available to help you tackle the task of preventing, evaluating or mitigating electromagnetic interference problems on railway components and systems. Services we provide include, but are not limited to:

  • EMC Control Plan Development
  • Product Evaluation and Creation of appropriate test plans
  • EMC/EMI testing on component and system level, be it in the laboratory or in the field
  • Issuance of EMC Test Reports
  • Conducting on-site EMI Surveys
  • Provide EMC Consulting
  • Help with EMC Specifications
  • Provide Product Certification

We have experience with a wide range of domestic and international EMC & EMI specifications, standards and regulations, such as: CFR 47 Part 15, CFR 49 Parts 234 & 236, UMTA-MA-06-0153-85-6, UMTA-MA-06-0153-85-8, UMTA-MA-06-0153-85-11, MIL-STD-461E, IEC 62236, IEC 61000-1-2, AREMA Manual Part 11.5.2 (IEC62236, 61000), EN 50121, EN 50238, APTA SS-E-010-98, and individual client's EMC/EMI specs.

Customers can choose from convenient 10, 5, or 3 meter anechoic and semi-anechoic laboratories throughout North America or hire our dedicated mobile labs for tests at the customer's location - outdoors, indoors, or right on the factory floor.

Our test labs are ISO 17025 accredited by NIST under the NVLAP Accreditation Program. TÜV Rheinland® is also a Notified Body for EMC Directive 2004/108/EC.

Additional Services that we offer include:

  • Preparation of commissioning and testing programs
  • Provision of resources in testing centers and network operations
  • Execution of test services for systems and components
  • Implementation of EC checks as a notified body for interoperability (European network of notified bodies)
  • Support for commissioning
  • Assessments of rail vehicles
  • Admission management (including documentation audits)
  • Project management

Inspection and Infrastructure Projects

Vehicle Dynamic Simulations Projects

  • Suspension System design optimization for AMTRAK Material Handling Car including simulation of different spring and damper arrangements
  • Truck design optimization project for new intermodal railcar design
  • Chapter XI simulation analysis for all curving and tangent track regimes for multi-platform intermodal car, articulated bulk commodity car design, high-speed Express Car in pitch and bounce regimes, coal car design
  • Vertical Curving Performance for track design on new Alameda Corridor Project
  • Simulation of hydraulic damper performance in curving and high-speed stability for different car designs
  • Evaluated the dynamic and safety performance of 125-ton doublestack cars on Northeast Corridor
  • Evaluated the dynamic vertical and lateral performance of 286K axle loads on selected portion of high-speed Amtrak corridor

Vehicle Inspection Projects

  • 100 Ton Wood Chip Hoppers
  • 100 Ton Ballast Cars
  • 100 Ton Covered Hopper Cars
  • 100 Ton Aluminum Gons
  • 100 Ton Aggregate Cars
  • 100 Ton Open Top Hoppers
  • Trilevel Rule 88 Certification
  • Trough Train Prototype Cars
  • Pressure Differential Covered Hoppers
  • Southeastern Railcar
  • Mark V Roadrailers
  • High Cube Box Car Rebuilds
  • Bi-level Construction
  • Tri-level Construction

Instrumentation and Testing

  • Project Consultant for first two commercial tests of Electronic Air Brake System (EABS)
  • TÜV Rheinland has performed over 150 instrumented stop distance tests, including bulk commodity trains, high-speed intermodal, doublestack, mixed freight and commuter operations
  • Supervised testing and performed data reduction for wheel lift tests, impact tests, dynamic curve performance, and truck turning moment test
  • Supervised trackside testing at the site of an intermodal derailment; tests included L/V, rail displacement and wheelset angle of attack
  • Instrumented and tested L/V and rail displacement for Canadian iron ore railroad. Tests included tribometer study of rail lubrication effectiveness, different rail grinding strategies and different types of freight car trucks
  • Performed brake shoe force tests or "Golden Shoe" tests on freight and passenger car braking systems, truck warp tests, instrumented truck tests, including static and dynamic over-the-road tests in rock/roll and curving regimes, and vibration and resonance analysis on locomotive frame, stress and strain analysis on car couplers for airport transit system
  • Performed over-the-road truck stability tests of new hopper cars that were involved in derailments, over-the-road testing, including displacement and video instrumentation, of boxcars in order to determine cause(s) of premature wear of truck component
  • Managed coast-to-coast doublestack ride quality test using SOMAT data collection equipment. TÜV Rheinland supervised repair and maintenance of instrumentation and data downloading on both coasts.

Our inspections include:

  • Noise measurements
  • Running properties
  • Running capacity
  • Structure gauge
  • Trial runs
  • Vehicle tests
  • Vehicle limitations
  • Vehicle dynamics

Examples of Tests and Samples:

Testing & Instrumentation

  • Truck Warp Tests
  • Instrumented Drawbar Tests
  • Coupler Angling Tests
  • Air Hose Tests
  • Wayside Lateral/Vertical Testing
  • Over-the-Road Performance Tests

Vehicle Inspections

  • Compliant Weld Dimensions
  • Weld Quality
  • Component Fit
  • Material Specification
  • Surface Preparation
  • Uniform Paint Application