ARS products overview
All Rail Systems, (ARS) is a Spanish company that manufactures and markets all variants of 3D&FAT System, for global rail sector. ARS has been in the market since 2002.
The company’s main objective is to provide high quality products to its clients, directed the immediate detection of derailments of trains, not only to minimize their financial losses, but also to save people’s lives. ARS are continuously looking to improve the products by inventing systems with new features that are easier to use.
All Rail Systems’ products are widely used in Europe, Africa and South America
Since the beginning of the railroad, accidents caused by derailments have become a serious concern to transport operators and staff responsible for driving trains as well as users and society in general. The economic consequences of this type of accidents are huge; therefore, any approach to avoid or to minimize the losses is highly welcomed by the agents in charge of this important mode of transport.
Transportation of dangerous goods such as chemicals, liquid fuels or nuclear waste, is getting increasingly unpopular and less tolerated by public, especially in countries or areas that suffer evacuations caused by railway accidents. In the USA, once a month on an average, evacuation of people happens caused by railway accidents that most of the times occur to a derailment.
The need to reduce operating costs with better utilization of available resources, often results in creation of trains with several locomotives for traction, extending the length of the same significantly. In these circumstances when an axis is out of the way, the reaction caused due to fixing it, is even more difficult for the drivers to perceive, causing the train to run with derailed wagon for long distances.
When the affected track section has concrete railroad ties or sleepers which are more expensive than the traditional wooden ones, the incidence of economic damage significantly increases because often it is necessary to replace the entire damaged area. If the derailed wagon runs on areas where there are sidings like check-rails, diversions, needles, etc. or bridges or tunnels, it is likely that the derailment will spread to other wagons with consequent collapse of the whole train. Damage can also affect electric poles in the areas having them and can also lead to two-way collision with other units moving in the opposite direction, whether of freight or of passengers.
ARS is specialized in the manufacture and commercialization of Devices Derailment Detectors, DDD.
3.1- What is the 3D&FAT System and how does it work? 
It is a system adaptable to any freight or passenger wagon provided with bogies, and has the ability to detect instantaneously the moment at which derailment occurs, causing immediate and automatic braking of the complete train. This system, which we call 3D&FAT, «Dispositivo Detector de Descarrilamiento & Frenado Automático del Tren», has proven to be a really effective Derailment Detector D evice & Automatic Braking of Train .
Originally it was invented and developed by FEVE, railway Spanish company today integrated to ADIF and RENFE. The initial prototype was improved, strengthened and adapted for its proper operation in adverse conditions, such as those that support railroads that travel through sandy deserts and with extreme temperatures.
Finally ARS has replaced the Automatic Brake Valve (VFA) with other one autopiloted (VRDR), which does not require any grafting or auxiliary pipeslines for the compressed air supply. This novelty developed by ARS and simplifying the 3D&FAT-Basic System has allowed the direct reduction of the sale price and, more importantly, the drastic reduction of assembly time and, definitively, the cheaper investment required for the Client.
The main feature of the 3D&FAT System is its absolutely geometric design, immune to vibrations and beatings, typical of systems based on inertial principles that use mechanical accelerometers, so it is able to detect derailments at any train speed, both in tracks with sleepers on ballast as in embedded rail into slab track. It is especially indicated when the infrastructures are not well preserved or very sinuous tracings exist.
The implementation of the DDD in a railway company is an important decision that gives rise to considerable technical and economic advantages. It does not prevent derailment which, unfortunately, is always and will be present in every railway vehicle, but if we obtain the detection at the moment when the exit of the first axle and immediately braking the train, we will prevent damage of economic consequences, sometimes disastrous. The 3D&FAT System, constitutes a very important contribution in favor of rail traffic safety, with evident capacity to improve the profits of the companies dedicated to this business.
The experience gained from the installation of the first device, suggests that equipment reliability is very high, covering most of the causes of derailment. Until today the system worked well in almost all cases and also, to the present, there has never been a delayed performance of the system in the prior occurrence of a derailment or a significant fault between the bogie and chassis car.
The mechanical part is made up of a specially designed pulsator, whose task is to examine the position of the bogie in relation to the wagon chassis or body, with respect to both its vertical axle (relative movement due to curves and the normal curving caused on straight sections) and the horizontal axle crossing the wagon (relative movements of the two bogie axles due to irregularities and bumps on the track).The mechanism is specifically sized for every type of bogie and track, certain tolerances being fixed in accordance with the minimum curve radius on the track, the maximum bumps and according to the type of suspension the wagon has. If these tolerances are exceeded, circumstance that only occurs when bogie derailment takes place, the longitudinal movement is transferred to the pulsator.
The pneumatic part, upon perceiving this movement, instantly transmits a pneumatic signal to an automatic Valve Relay of Rapid Unload, VRDR, whose mission is to discharge the pressure of the TFA (Pipe of Automatic brake), for which, the train complete receives the emergency braking order, and stop. The new automatic valve, VRDR, developed by ARS is autopiloted and does't need external air pressure, thus avoiding grafting as well as the laying of auxiliary pipes. See diagram:
In this video we explain, in 2 minutes, the operation of the 3D&FAT System. (in its version prior to the new VRDR):
In this other video we can check, in half a minute, how 3D&FAT works:
Listed below are some of the system’s most important contributions:
- It reduces the risk of loss of human lives by minimizing the time the train is running with one or more derailed wagons.
- It avoids multiple derailments, since it is able to start stopping the moment the derailment of the first bogie takes place, thereby avoiding greater damage.
- The 3D&FAT system contributes in a large way to reducing risks in the transport of dangerous materials, such as chemical products and liquid fuels, leading to increased confidence among the people involved in it, from the train’s driver to customers, and without forgetting official bodies and society in general.
- 3D&FAT adds to the railway company's prestige, improving its external image.
- Hard to evaluate environmental damage is also reduced by using 3D&FAT.
- Due to the reduced risk with 3D&FAT, it is possible to negotiate a reduction in premium with insurance companies.
- It reduces traffic interruptions caused by derailments, improving turnover and service
- Damage to freight caused by derailments is significantly reduced.
Entrepreneurs, responsible for transporting goods, on suffering the consequences of a serious derailment, wonder if it is wise to wait until the next derailment to take decisions. The existence of the 3D&FAT System allows them to have a new and powerful tool, in order to strengthen the passive safety of the trains and also significantly improve the financial results of their companies.
In 'Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya' (FGC) we have carried out exhaustive tests verifying the absolute suitability of the 3D&FAT System for its fleet of hopper cars, used in the transport of potassium salts from the mines to the port of Barcelona.
In Mauritania, the National Industrial and Mining Company (SNIM), having a train operating in the Sahara desert, which is one of the heaviest and longest trains in the world, has installed the 3D&FAT system in its wagons.
The ‘Ferrocarril Oriental de Bolivia’ and the ‘Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos’ (YPFB), have wagons of load equipped with this same device
Our company, ARS, possessing this technological asset, offers 3D&FAT system to any railway company.
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The 3D&FAT system, conceptualized and created by railway workers for the railway, is characterized by:
- As with all things that works well, this system is based on simple geometric principles.
- It is not a prototype. It is a reality that operates with high reliability in several companies.
- The basic system neither uses electrical conductors nor electronic devices. It does’t need batteries, accumulators or other analogical power sources.
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It works well, independent of the speed at which derailment takes place.
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Detects derailments in any type of road, even in sections with embedded rail into slab track. -
It is very simple to install, both in new as well as used wagons.
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It has a long useful life, similar to that of the freight wagons where it is installed. -
Easy maintenance that does not require any lubrication, manually pushing the pulsator in periodic wagon inspections to check the system’s efficiency suffices.
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Following activation in a derailment, the system resets easily without using consumables of any type. -
The average cost of the investment needed does not exceed 2% of the cost of a new wagon, the gross pay-back time being about 2 years, which is indicative of very high profitability.
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And remember: It is very difficult to avoid derailments, but with 3D&FAT it is very easy to reduce their damage.
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ALL RAIL SYSTEMS, S.L.
