LaserTrain

Project Information

LT

Grant agreement ID: 878436

DOI

10.3030/878436

Project closed

EC signature date 19 November 2019

Start date 1 December 2019

End date 31 May 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

LASER TRIBOLOGY BV
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LT (LaserTrain)

Reporting period: 2019-12-01 to 2020-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The LaserTrain has made a successful debut in New York in the autumn of 2019. Our prototype was fully operational with LIRR and had the following: LIRR’s slip-slide events were reduced by 17.4% – with just one LaserTrain running in their network. Looking closer, on top of the 17.4% overall reduction there was an extra 65% reduction in slip-slide on each branch in the 24 hours after the LaserTrain cleaned it. The results: 2.0% increase in punctuality, 32% less car shortening, 48% fewer train cancellations and 65% less late trains due to weather. The LaserTrain increases efficiency and decreases costs for railroads, prevents unsafe situations from slipperiness and serves the society at large by severely decreasing delays. All this is done without harming the environment as laser is a pure form of energy and cleaning using laser has no by-products. Energy is the only input and on one 400 litre fuel tank the LaserTrain can clean up to 6.500km.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The goal of this SME study was to setup the pathway to deliver similar good results here in Europe. To do so, 3 tasks have been completed successfully. Firstly our knowledge protection strategy has been further improved with a second patent but also improved legal work and a good black box strategy. Secondly we have contracted a law firm to provide us with the highest level of legal documents possible, which is an important step in obtaining future bank financing. Our cash-flow has markedly improved as the company is expected to grow revenue by over 220% in 2020. As such, finding funding for future contracts with big-name European parties should be easier.

The last and main goal of this feasibility study was to prioritize what clients we would be focussing on and reaching out to them. We have created two potential test partners and a few quality leads that could well lead to the desired high-speed European LaserTrain live on track by fall 2021 the latest. The technology is ready for it and the market seems to have opened up due to the good results with LIRR.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project aims to both increase the punctuality and decrease the costs of train operations, thereby improving 'green' travel. With the SME funding the base was laid to put this into practice in Europe.

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