Case Study

Angel Trainsand DB ESG
Deploy First
3D-Printed
Parts on UK
Passenger
TrainsUsing theStratasys
Rail Industry
Solution2 2Founded in 1994, Angel Trains is the leading
rolling stock provider for the UK rail industry,financing and delivering high-quality trains to UK
passenger service operators. Each year, it makes
significant investment in innovative solutions
to modernize and improve UK train ﬂeets. Oneof the company’s biggest challenges is findingan alternative to the traditional supply chain for
replacement parts, which struggles to cope withgrowing demands.
Unlike the automotive industry, where vehicles are
mass produced in millions each year, the numberof ﬂeets in the rail industry is comparatively verysmall and over 30 years old in some cases.
This combination presents several challenges
for train operators, especially regarding vehicle
maintenance and part replacement.
“In recent times, we’ve seen growing concern
among operators that sourcing replacement partsfor older train ﬂeets at a reasonable cost and in ashort timeframe is proving increasingly difficult,”
explained James Brown, Data and Performance
Engineer at Angel Trains. “The problem is thattraditional manufacturing methods only make it
cost-effective to produce high volumes of spareparts, even though an operator may only need afew obsolete train parts replaced. Lead times canalso take months, exacerbating the issue evenfurther.”
As a result, Angel Trains teamed up withengineering consultancy DB ESG, and Stratasys,
to show train operators how they can overcome
these hurdles by 3D printing lower quantitiesof parts in a fraction of the time and costof traditional methods. This cross-industry
collaboration soon resulted in the first 3Dprinted parts ever deployed within an in-service
passenger train in the UK. They included four
passenger armrests and seven grab handles,
installed on Chiltern Railways’ trains.

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Case
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Significant Savings in Production Costs andLead Times
Stratasys’ Rail Industry Solution comprises railqualified materials and production-grade FDM®
3D printing. This lets Angel Trains achieve major
time and cost efficiencies in part replacement,
demonstrated by the Chiltern Railways armrest
installation.

3D printed armrest on Chiltern Railways train – produced 94%
faster compared to traditional manufacturing methods.

An obsolete replacement
part can be 3D printed
on-demand and installed
immediately, enabling
operators to better maintainits trains and get vehicles
back into service more
quickly, thus improving
the quality of service forpassengers.”
James Brown

Data and Performance Engineer, Angel Trains

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StudyTitle Here

3D printed grab handles installed on a Chiltern Railways train.

The lead time for this part using conventional
manufacturing would be approximately fourmonths. However, according to Brown, the final
armrest can be produced within one week with
Stratasys’ Rail Industry Solution, representing alead-time decrease of almost 94%. Brown also
believes that cost savings of up to 50% per partare achievable.

Solution, train operators can be much more
responsive to replacing passenger-facing parts
that get damaged or vandalized. An obsolete
replacement part can be 3D printed on demandand installed immediately, enabling operators to
get vehicles back into service quicker and better
maintain their trains – improving the quality ofservice for passengers.”

Similarly, in the case of the on-seat grab handle,
the replacement part was obsolete and theoriginal supplier was no longer in operation. To
make new grab handles, a new manufacturing
tool would have been required, costing up to£15,000, with an expected lead time of two anda half months. With the Rail Industry Solution, thegrab handles were produced in just three weeks
at a significantly lower cost per part.

Achieving Part Certification“This is an exciting time for the UK rail industry,”
said Brown. “With Stratasys’ Rail Industry

To overcome the challenge of certifying 3D
printed parts for use in passenger trains, DB ESG
conducted comprehensive testing on a range ofindustrial-grade 3D printing materials. The finalparts were 3D printed in ULTEM™ 9085 resin
using a Stratasys Fortus 450mc™ 3D printer.
The highly accurate production printer featuresa large heated build chamber, so parts meet thestrict tolerances and repeatability requirementsof industry, as well as allowing large single parts

4or multiple smaller parts to be printed in one
run. Last year, ULTEM™ 9085 resin was certified
to the rail industry’s fire, smoke and toxicity
standard, EN45545-2, a first for the rail industry.
Martin Stevens, Mechanical Engineering Manager
DB ESG commented, “Gaining this certification
removes a major barrier that has prevented morewidespread implementation of 3D printing across
UK trains. Our role in this project has been toinvestigate the design, production and finishing ofparts produced using Stratasys FDM technology,
verifying whether the parts comply with railstandards and checking whether they work in theoperating environments. We have also optimized
the component design of FDM manufacture.”
Improving Passenger Experience Even
FurtherWith low-volume production now achievable,
Angel Trains is already exploring how it canleverage the Rail Industry Solution to customize
interiors better suited to the passenger commute.
“We’ve tested 3D-printed seat-back tables
with braille, informing the passenger that thetoilet is ten rows back from that particularseat,” said Brown. “This level of customizationis unprecedented and can only be enabled by
3D printing, offering the potential to significantly
improve passenger experience in the future.”
Following the success of the Chiltern Railways
trial, the group has established a repeatableprocess for future projects that produces
parts compliant with rail industry standards
that are suitable for use in passenger vehicles.
With positive responses from train operators,
the three-way consortium will be extending
the deployment of 3D printed parts onto UK
passenger trains with another train operator, thelatest trial designed to transform rail production
as we know it.

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Case Study

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