EU-funded researchers sought to make the rail industry more energy efficient by building decision-making tools and setting standards, according to a press release of the European Commission Wednesday.

Rail systems are very complex and trains travel across countries with different energy markets, therefore, it can be hard for rail companies to spot energy-saving opportunities.

To help improve rail transport's sustainability, the EU-funded Merlin project developed two smart decision-making tools. One analyses rail energy use in real time and helps plan energy buying, while the other helps design energy-efficient networks.

Unlike existing rail energy management software, these tools look at all aspects of a network's energy use, including the costs and emissions related to traffic peaks.

Franco Cataldo, Merlin coordinator at the Belgium-based Union des Industries Ferroviaires Europeennes (UNIFE) until November 2014, said the project's tools could cut railways' energy use by up to 10 percent, if implemented in full across a network.

"Merlin looks at how different aspects of a rail system work together," said Cataldo, "We are mapping out the different players, what types of information need to be exchanged and specifications for energy measurement tools for the whole system."

Moreover, researchers worked to build technical and business standards for the rail industry to support better integrated rail energy use.

The team was submitting recommendations to the European Committee for Standardization on how to model the relationships between energy-use in different parts of an entire railway network, as part of a standard system for measuring rail energy use.

Cataldo hoped that the project can contribute to the International Electrotechnical Commission's efforts to develop international standards on rail energy use.

Researchers plan to publish advice at the end of the project on how operators, infrastructure managers and power suppliers could interact, including recommendations on energy trading. Endit

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