Hello everyone! I'm posting here seeking UK railfan expertise on what I think is an unprecedented failure on an automated metro line in Rennes, Brittany.
Rennes metro line B is a Siemens CityVal, the only metro of this kind to be deployed so far anywhere (I understand it has been ordered by Frankfurt aiport and the city of Bangkok) having entered service just over a year ago.
On November 18 2023 there was a fire in an electrical cabinet at the depot which cut the power supply to the line. Over a week later, not only has power not been restored but there is as yet no announcement about when the line might resume service. An announcement about a provisional schedule for that to happen is expected tomorrow.
Article (in French) covering the basics here.
There is some talk that the fire was caused by a circuit breaker not doing its job. There is also talk that the circuit breaker in question should have tripped due to an overcurrent being fed back into the system from an emergency brake applied on a train in operation. To me it seems quite incredible that there should be so little redundancy resulting in a single point of failure. The lack of clearer communication by the transport authority, the operator and the manufacturer also makes me wonder about possible design flaws and their potential implications.
Rennes is one of the smallest cities in the world to have a metro system (let alone two lines) and the traffic and transport infrastructure has been significantly redesigned with the advent of line B. That means it's much harder to move people over to alternative means of transport or provide effective replacement services, resulting in chaos at peak hours and a significant decline in city-centre retail business.
I can find very little discussion out there on French sites and wondered if anyone here might be able to shed light on any of these aspects. Is such a failure unprecedented? What might the contractual implications be? Does anyone have any insights into the technical issues?
Rennes metro line B is a Siemens CityVal, the only metro of this kind to be deployed so far anywhere (I understand it has been ordered by Frankfurt aiport and the city of Bangkok) having entered service just over a year ago.
On November 18 2023 there was a fire in an electrical cabinet at the depot which cut the power supply to the line. Over a week later, not only has power not been restored but there is as yet no announcement about when the line might resume service. An announcement about a provisional schedule for that to happen is expected tomorrow.
Article (in French) covering the basics here.
There is some talk that the fire was caused by a circuit breaker not doing its job. There is also talk that the circuit breaker in question should have tripped due to an overcurrent being fed back into the system from an emergency brake applied on a train in operation. To me it seems quite incredible that there should be so little redundancy resulting in a single point of failure. The lack of clearer communication by the transport authority, the operator and the manufacturer also makes me wonder about possible design flaws and their potential implications.
Rennes is one of the smallest cities in the world to have a metro system (let alone two lines) and the traffic and transport infrastructure has been significantly redesigned with the advent of line B. That means it's much harder to move people over to alternative means of transport or provide effective replacement services, resulting in chaos at peak hours and a significant decline in city-centre retail business.
I can find very little discussion out there on French sites and wondered if anyone here might be able to shed light on any of these aspects. Is such a failure unprecedented? What might the contractual implications be? Does anyone have any insights into the technical issues?