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Services

We provide rail and bus transportation equipment and system engineering, integration, and analysis; for wayside train control, traction power, communications, energy storage, and central control; for trains and onboard systems; for commuter, subway, light rail, high speed rail, bus, and automated people movers; and embedded controllers and secure cloud solutions.

EMI/EMC

Tenco is expert in all aspects of rail Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and control of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI).  Tenco staff wrote the US rail transit EMC standards, and apply them to new rail systems, railcars, lines, and interfaces, from coast to coast and around the world.  Tenco provides:

  • Technically sophisticated methods to ensure compatibility between 
    • High power systems like EMU trains and wayside energy storage systems
    • Sensitive receivers such as legacy track circuits or sensitive nearby research facilities.  
  • Cost effective standard methods to prove compliance with “box” standards such as EN 50121-x / IEC 62236-x, FCC Part 15, or MIL-Std-461
  • Expertise applying the US rail EMI Test Standards including the (former) UMTA Suggested Test Procedures for Conducted, Inductive, and Radiated EMI
  • Tenco work covers all stages from:
    • Environmental Impact Assessment of Electromagnetic Fields, to  
    • Program Plans for lines, railcars, wayside systems, onboard systems, or devices, to
    • Design guidance for systems and equipment, to 
    • Factory, lab, and field tests and reporting, to
    • Problem investigation, modification design, test, and resolution.
  • In-depth projects include:
    • Regulatory rulemaking regarding exposure of neighboring utilities such as pipelines, power lines, and railroads to electromagnetic fields caused by the planned California High-Speed Rail project
    • Assessment of electromagnetic fields caused by specific arrangements of rails, Overhead Contact System, and adjacent structures in 2x25kV Traction Power systems, for multiple projects
    • In-depth assessment of impact on power utilities supplying traction power to rail systems using 2×25 kV and 1×25 kV traction power, including unbalance, harmonics, IEEE-Std-519 compliance, flicker, fault effects, transients, islanding
    • Aviation communication, navigation, and surveillance equipment at airports served by rail lines
    • Sensitive facilities adjacent to rail lines, such as hospitals, research facilities, manufacturing companies
    • Issues of potential effects of human exposure to electromagnetic fields at low and high frequency
    • Environmental Impact Reports / Statements regarding exposure to electromagnetic fields and provisions to mitigate
    • Assessed equipment and projects following other standards and determined their relationship to the leading standards, including e.g., MIL-STD-461 Military EMC, Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) and Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Information Technology Equipment (VCCI) / Japan, Regulation of The Minister of Transportation of The Republic of Indonesia, Taiwan Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), and Project-specific specifications, EMI limits, and regulations, from the US and Asia.

More Information

Tenco EMC programs include the California-High Speed Rail; commuter lines including Caltrain, Denver Eagle P3, Metro North, Long Island Rail Road, Chicago Metra, NICTD, SEPTA, and Taiwan; subways from BART to Boston to Los Angeles to New York City to Jakarta; light rail in Boston, Calgary, Denver, Edmonton, Houston, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Portland, and others; wayside energy storage systems from coast to coast, and propulsion and APS suppliers around the world.   Tenco works for transit agencies and their consultants, and for railcar builders, wayside system suppliers, and railcar system suppliers.

Tenco knows that for EMI, too stringent goals only add cost and weight and provide no benefit, while too lenient goals can lead to train delays or unacceptable hazards.  Tenco test engineers use industry leading methods to capture the right data and make the right analysis, to right-size the EMI protection to ensure a safe, dependable cost-effective solution.  Tenco uses sophisticated electromagnetic modeling tools to solve complex problems on the desktop and minimize use of scarce track test time to test solutions.

Tuscon Street Car - Radiated Emissions Test

Please contact us to explore how Tenco can support your project.