LED hall lighting in the maintenance workshops of Deutsche Bahn

The lighting upgrade for the ICE facility in Hamburg-Eidelstedt

Deutsche Bahn has entered a whole new league with the ICE 4: never before have the trains of the ICE range been as long as those of the fourth generation. The maintenance areas for the 346-metre-long trains are now being extended and optimised. Of course, efficient and flexible NORKA lighting systems also play their part in this. Just how can be seen in Hamburg-Eidelstedt. It has to be quick. It takes 60 minutes to inspect a complete ICE 4, i.e. the sides of the carriage body, the roof and also the chassis from below. Every two days, Deutsche Bahn’s current flagship rolls into the inspection hall to be checked for damage or wear by expert staff. This happens in the designated ICE facilities, for example, in Hamburg-Eidelstedt, where they have specialised in ICE trains since 1991. This facility has now received a structural upgrade for the latest generation, because the ICE 4, at 346 metres, is longer than all of its other ICE predecessors.

The task proved to be far from simple, but decidedly challenging in both major and minor ways. To ensure that the batteries of the trains are accessible and can be replaced from underneath, the building services on the lowest level had to be moved upwards. In collaboration with the specialist planners, NORKA developed an optimum illumination solution that specifically allowed for this, addressing the three working levels of roof, carriage body and underfloor. The single-lamp NORKA EIDELSTEDT luminaires take on the task of actually producing the light. In order to guarantee the target illumination level of 150 lux (300 lux even in the roof area), a total of 448 wide beam and 156 medium beam versions of the EIDELSTEDT type m1200 were installed. But that's not all: in addition to this work lighting there was the safety lighting consisting of 282 wide beam and 52 medium beam EIDELSTEDT luminaires installed whose group batteries provide the power supply. The safety luminaires are equipped in such a way that testing can be carried out centrally and their function is ensured in an emergency.

The special LED modules in the luminaires optimise the colour rendering of red tones thanks to the increased R9 value (>77). This meets the specific requirements of Deutsche Bahn – as does the integration of SELV (Safety Extra Low Voltage) control gear that supplies the LED modules. The EIDELSTEDT luminaire is DALI-compatible, equipped with quintuple through wiring and two control lines.
Converting to NORKA’s LED technology alone reduces the running costs of the lighting system by 40 to 50 percent. In addition, the long-lasting LED lamps save money due to lower maintenance costs. A further reduction in operating costs is achieved by the intelligent, automatic and daylight-dependent control of the luminous flux.

The lighting control system was specially designed for the project by the partner company NORKA Automation – the very length of the installation itself made this necessary. A central control panel serves as the core of the control system, which displays, controls and also checks all operating states. ‘A central control panel is by no means a matter of course, but in view of the three working levels and the length of the hall, it makes absolute sense,’ explains Serge Stephan, who is responsible for design and implementation at NORKA Automation. ‘At a distance of 100 metres from each other, there are sub-panels directly by the tracks, which can be used to operate the sectors to the left and right of them.’ The sub-panels allow staff to increase the illumination level where it seems necessary, for example, when working on specific details. After ten minutes, the system automatically switches back from maximum illumination to the daylight-supported standard mode with 150 lux. And while the underfloor level is permanently illuminated for safety reasons, the light on the roof level is only activated when the working platform is released for use.