Transport Technological Center Foundation (CETEMET, Fundación Centro Tecnológico Metalmecánica y del Transporte), specifically its Zaragoza Climatic Testing Station for the railway sector, unique for its dimensions and capacity to simulate extreme climatic conditions, has become the first ENAC-accredited body for testing thermal comfort in cabins and wagons for passenger transport.

Specifically, this new accreditation recognizes the CETEMET laboratory's technical competence to carry out tests to guarantee that railway vehicles' air conditioning systems (HVAC) work optimally, complying with the railway standards related to air conditioner testing for urban/suburban rolling stock (UNE-EN 14750) and long-distance lines (UNE-EN 13129), and for driver's cabs (UNE-EN 14813).

CETEMET president, Patricio Lupiáñez, explains that "the fundamental benefits obtained from these tests is to ensure that the air conditioning systems work optimally in any of the scenarios defined by the reference standard, such as very extreme temperatures and humidity in tropical climates or very cold and dry in Nordic climates”. He also points out that "during testing, the air conditioning equipment's energy consumption is measured and controlled to achieve an optimal performance balance”.

In addition, Lupiáñez highlights the guarantees that this accreditation gives to Spanish companies in the sector: "The objective of this accreditation is to make it easier for Spanish railway rolling stock manufacturers so that they can carry out their vehicle testing on national territory without having to send their test samples to other parts of Europe”.

Finally, he highlights that this recognition "makes CETEMET a reference body in Spain and Europe, thanks to an infrastructure that in the railway and climate field will help improve companies' competitiveness, such as CAF, Talgo, Alstom or Stadler, enabling them to save on logistics costs etc., in addition to improving their competitiveness”.

A unique test station

“This station has working dimensions of 28 x 5 x 5.5 meters, and can simulate temperatures from -25ºC to 50ºC, while generating humidity of up to 90%, and snow projected onto the test sample", describes Lupiáñez. Thanks to these simulation capabilities, railway products can be tested climatically at real scale: "This includes testing the operation of mechanical elements such as windscreen wipers, braking systems, etc. and the vehicle’s air conditioning, including heating systems in cold climates and cooling systems in hot climates", concludes the president.