Automated water-saving washing facility in NW China’s Gansu cleans whole train cars in only 10 minutes

(Video source: Media Convergence Center of China Railway Lanzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd)

An automated washing facility operated by the China Railway Lanzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd. has been put into use to clean the exterior of train cars, with its operations based in Lanzhou, capital city of northwest China’s Gansu Province.

Consisting of nine separate systems, including an identification system, a spray system, a water supply system, a water circulation system, and a mechanical scrubbing system, the facility is capable of cleaning various types of trains.

The mechanical scrubbing system alone includes sets of 18 green-colored scrubbing arms installed on opposing sides, which together can work in tandem to clean the body of a train, and four long blue-colored scrubbing arms, which are used to dry the body of the train after it is cleaned. There are also six short blue-colored arms and four short green-colored arms to clean the surface of the trains using skirt boards.

After the train enters the facility, the automatic identification system can intelligently identify the train type, its entry direction and travel status. Then, the induction device triggers the pre-wetting spray system, as the spray equipment set up on both sides of the train begin operations.

After the train washing process is completed, the wastewater will be discharged into a designated storage area, where it will then be further treated for reuse. This indicates the water-saving and energy-saving design of the facility.

It takes only 10 minutes to clean a train, which can significantly improve the efficiency and reduce the labor intensity of the cleaning process.