Successful training and know-how transfer workshops in Leipzig
The 3rd eco-driving workshop in Leipzig consisted of both a theoretical and a practical component and was dedicated to measuring the concrete energy savings at one of the local substations. These measurements yielded very precise data and startling new insights! It has now been proven that through the use of eco-driving techniques on the city’s electric trams, 1 kWh per kilometer can be saved in energy consumption! Repeated trial runs with two different drivers took place on a single track bit of line in order to consistently verify these findings. The results of this test make it clear that such small savings on just one stretch of track make it possible to achieve huge cumulative energy (and thus cost) savings over the entire network!
Due to the large number of participants, another practical phase of the workshop included the use of three different trams for further eco-driving trials and measurement runs. Because Leipzig has an expansive light rail network that only features 30% of segregated track and 70% of street running with shared lanes, the basic conditions for eco-driving are not as favorable as in other cities with a greater proportion of segregated tracks. Despite of this circumstance, even in Leipzig it has been possible for the drivers to let their vehicles roll and look ahead in order to actively anticipate traffic, thereby reducing the need to suddenly brake and then re-accelerate. The first three workshops held in Leipzig were attended by driving instructors from the public transport operators in Hannover, Potsdam, Duisburg, Stuttgart, Essen, Bochum, Frankfurt am Main, Cottbus,Salzburg, Krefeld, Mainz, Erfurt, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Bielefeld, München, Zwickau and Wien.
Thanks to the success of the first three workshops and word quickly spreading amongst other public transport companies, a fourth session was successfully hosted on 27 January 2015 with 6 participants from Erfurt and 3 from Wien.
This exemplary level of collaboration should make an extensive know-how transfer possible and enable the wide-spread application of eco-driving in these other German and Austrian cities.
