Electricity is an environmentally-friendly way of powering transportation. And there is a long tradition of it at ABB. In 1890, ABB‘s Sécheron center produced the first electric streetcar.
Each Swiss citizen travels almost 2,500 kilometers every year on the national railways, placing them at the top of the world’s rankings for this environmentally-friendly mode of transport. And they have done much in the past to make things thatway, literally laying the tracks for the future. ABB Sécheron is closely connected to the evolution of rail, and its history is as complex as a railroad yard. It all started in Geneva’s Sécheron district where Alfred de Meuron opened a small electrical appliance workshop in 1879. His company grew and by 1890 had produced its first electric streetcar. This was the birth of today’s ABB Sécheron center. Innovation, high quality, and a never-flexible business policy allowed this company to become what is today: one of the world’s leading manufacturers of power supply systems for trains and rail infrastructure.
Every kilogram counts
One of Sécheron’s innovative products was the traction transformer, which converts high voltages from overhead power lines into low voltages needed for on-board applications. It is the high voltage that allows lighter- weight power supply lines to be built, but weight also matters on trains. The lighter and more compact a transformer, the faster and more energy-efficiently the train. It is this, as well as their reliability and ability to adapt to all kinds of different situations, that has convinced demanding clients in China, North America, Malaysia and, of course, rail-mad Switzerland itself. The transformers are manufactured not only in Geneva but also, in many cases, nearer to the customer, whether in China or Russia. In Turgi, ABB Sécheron also manufactures power electronics and medium-voltage drive systems. These, too, make modern locomotives more powerful and more economical, even though ABB itself has not built locomotives for around 20 years now.
