APS Electronic is a Swiss technology company, specialising in the design and manufacture of auxiliary converters for railway vehicles, metros, mass transit systems, monorails, trolleybus and tramways.

Since 1979, APS has manufactured and delivered more than 3,500 auxiliary converters worldwide. Thanks to its modular design, APS offers fit, form and function auxiliary converters in small, medium and large quantities for refurbishment projects.

The APS converter portfolio complies with all International Union of Railways (UIC) and urban transport network voltages. All possible applications are available, such as battery chargers, electric brake excitation, inverters, and a combination of both DC and AC outputs.

Designed and made in Switzerland, APS auxiliary converters are particularly robust and reliable. Highly efficient and mostly cooled with natural convection, they don’t require any periodic maintenance.

Battery charger for locomotives and EMUs.
HVAC inverter for railway vehicles.
Auxiliary converter for metros with brake excitation.
Modular auxiliary converter for rail vehicles and trolleys.
High-power DC/DC converter for rail vehicles and trolleys.

For these reasons, APS auxiliary converters are among the best products on the market with low lifecyle costs (LCC) over 20 years. Last but not least, APS commits to repair its auxiliary converters for 20 years and more.

Battery charger for locomotives

APS offers stand-alone battery chargers for locomotives with 200V – 16.7Hz input voltage and 110VDC – 120A output. Further characteristics include 19in stainless-steel housing, IP54 protection, cooling on demand (fan), system configuration and diagnostic. This battery charger is suitable for Bombardier TRAXX and Siemens Eurosprinter locomotives.

Further types of battery charger for locomotives, electric multiple units (EMUs), metros, trolleys and tramways are also available upon request.

Auxiliary converters for metros with brake excitation

The APS range includes auxiliary converters for metros with 1,500VDC input voltage and the following 3 DC outputs:

  • 80V-96VDC with 10A-30A for battery charging
  • 72VDC with 120A for DC onboard network
  • 0V-100VDC with 0A-300A linear proportional to the voltage for brake excitation
  • Further characteristics include IP67 protection, natural convection cooling

HVAC inverter for railway vehicles

This HVAC inverter is designed for main line rail vehicles and EMUs with 350V or 1,000VAC – 16.7Hz input voltage (DC systems are also available upon request) and 3x400VAC output voltage, variable frequency, 18kVA continuous power.

The product is mounted inside the air-conditioning unit, using the air flow for cooling. The inverter includes a high-frequency galvanic isolation, a booster with power factor correction (PFC), sine output filters, as well as time delayed, potential-free contact for monitoring the converter in operation, automatic restart after eliminating external interference, protection against overvoltage and overheats.

Alternatively, a standalone version with natural convection cooling (12kVA) and IP54 stainless-steel housing is available for powering air compressors, fans and other AC-auxiliary loads. Higher power converters up to 30kVA are also available on request.

Modular auxiliary converters for rail vehicles and trolleys

APS standard modular design for auxiliary converters cover all the main converter functions, including galvanic isolation, booster, DC and/or AC outputs, which are distributed into modules.

Each module is around 20kW of continuous power and encapsulated into IP54 stainless-steel housing. Modules can be mounted on the roof, underfloor or inside the vehicle. All modules are naturally convection cooled.

Such modular systems cover all possible combinations for input and output voltages:

  • DC inputs: 600V/750VDC and 900V up to 3,000VDC
  • AC inputs: 250V up to 3,000VAC with a frequency of 16.7Hz to 60Hz
  • DC outputs: 12V, 24V, 36V, 72V and 110VDC
  • AC outputs: 3x230VAC, 3x400VAC or 3x600VAC with fixed and variable frequency (U/f=cte)

Versions with containers and racks are also available on request.

High power DC/DC converter for rail vehicles and trolleys

APS offers high-power DC/DC converters with high-frequency galvanic separation for rail vehicles and trolleys with 750VDC input voltage, 600VDC output voltage and 250kW output power. Further characteristics include forced air cooling (on demand), computer-based configuration and diagnostics, as well as a roof-mounted optimised flat aluminum housing.

  • DC input voltage: 750VDC nominal
  • DC output voltage: 600VDC nominal
  • DC output current: maximum 625ADC
  • Output power: maximum 250kW (higher power is also available upon request)

This converter is designed with five parallel-switched 50kW power modules. Therefore, it is possible to increase or decrease the required output power in 50kW steps by mounting more or less power modules on the base plate.

To conclude, the above products are just a small selection of APS’s electronic converters. A broader range of railway auxiliary converters is available upon request. Therefore, please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further information or have specific requirements. We look forward to receiving your enquiries.