MOBILITY FOR TOMORROW
If we had one word to describe the future of the world in the coming years and decades, it would be growth! The spiralling expansion of the world’s population is creating ever growing, increasingly closely connected mega-cities. Our need for energy and raw materials, both for industry and private consumption, will also continue to grow, along with our awareness of the need for sustainability and greater environmental compatibility. This knowledge has led Schalke to pinpoint three key mega-trends, for which it is capable of providing suitable solutions: urbanisation, the extraction of raw materials, and efficiency.
Getting cities on the move
According to the United Nations, up to five billion people will be living in cities by the year 2030. New megacities with millions of inhabitants will develop, with new needs in terms of infrastructure and mobility, particularly in Asia and Africa. This urbanisation will lead to a growing demand for public transportation. New metros and underground rail systems will be needed to cope quickly and smoothly with the growing numbers of people. This is where the reduced loading gauge locomotives made by Schalke come in. They can be used for a wide range of service tasks that help keep the lifelines of the new mega-cities flowing.
Extracting mineral resources economically
At the same time, mankind needs increasing volumes of raw materials. Alongside conventional sources of energy, ores are in demand, which are again being increasingly searched for and mined below ground. In order to work both safely and economically in this environment, semi- and fully automatic systems are called for with transport solutions capable of working around the clock – even under the most difficult conditions. The current and future mining locomotives made
by Schalke are utilised wherever the tunnels are lower, the gradients steeper and the curves tighter. Schalke is in continual collaboration with the global players of the sector, busy developing complete systems for rail transportation that are custom-built with amazing precision to suit the situation at each mining site.
Intelligently preserving resources
The megatrend towards greatest possible efficiency has always driven the company’s development. Schalke has a long, proud tradition of creating innovation and has always looked for intelligent ways of using resources sparingly as well as new drive technology and energy supply options like Schalke ModuTrac locomotives, for example. Systems such as our in-house developed power pack, a highly efficient energy module that can be replaced within a very short time, help to utilise energy intelligently and precisely adapt it to suit each individual situation. This ability will also continue to be one of Schalke’s inherent strengths going into the future: the ability to devise individually tailored solutions, with a passion for performance and the strength gained from experience.
