Pushing boundaries with up-to-date train interiors

Fri, 20 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0200

“The Future of Mobility”: Under this motto, the InnoTrans trade fair to be held in Berlin, Germany, from September 18 to 21 will be devoted to the future of transport technology. Not only today's growing mobility and the trend towards mobile work, but also increasingly busy roads and a rising environmental awareness are promoting the switch to trains and buses. These public transport services are not as energy-hungry as cars, trucks, and airplanes, they emit less CO₂, and help prevent traffic congestion.

Regardless of whether traveling long distance or commuting to and from work: Customers are placing ever greater demands on the interior furnishing of trains. The passengers want a robust, innovative, and appealing design. They want comfortable seats and clean and easy-to-clean surfaces to give them a feeling of well-being. But the interior should also be functional in order to accommodate baby carriages, baggage, and bicycles, as well as to allow a seamless network. What is required are affordable and environmentally friendly solutions that also guarantee the safety of the passengers.

Safety has priority
��AV is a leading provider of polycarbonate solutions that combine many of these characteristics together. At the InnoTrans at Stand 506 in Hall 3.1, the company will present blends with this plastic that are not only sturdy and aesthetic, but also satisfy the high requirements of EN 45545, the European fire protection standard for railway vehicles. This way, plastics make their contribution to ensuring passenger safety.

The product Bayblend^® FR411 MT, for example, is a filler-reinforced modified polycarbonate that meets the requirements of this European standard with respect to flame propagation, thermal release, and smoke density and toxicity for R1 applications according to hazard level HL2 up to a wall thickness of two millimeters.

To address the need of the railway industry for a material for higher wall thicknesses, ��AV has developed the trial product Bayblend^® TP2139, which meets the fire protection requirements named above even up to a layer thickness of three millimeters.

Pioneering interior design
“The two products are highly versatile in use for walls and seats, as well as in electrical installations,” says Klaus Kraner, expert for the interior furnishing of buses and trains at ��AV's Polycarbonates Segment. “The components manufactured from them are lightweight and do not require painting, as the material is dyed during plate production,” explains Klaus Kraner.

There are virtually no limits for designers when it comes to shaping and coloring. This also applies to the design of surfaces, which can have a smooth or high gloss finish, but also a grained or textured finish. Moreover, polycarbonate is permeable to radio signals and therefore ideally suitable for the installation of antennas and sensors.

The plates can be manufactured with environmentally friendly and efficient extrusion technologies. They are long-lasting and can be recycled at the end of their useful life.

About ��AV:
With 2017 sales of EUR 14.1 billion, ��AV is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. ��AV has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,200 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2017.

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Forward-looking statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by ��AV. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in ��AV’s public reports which are available at . The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

����AV Press

Pushing boundaries with up-to-date train interiors

��AV Press