Fallo de tracción ferroviaria

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), module 0973 Traccion electrica of the Tecnico en Mantenimiento de Material Rodante Ferroviario (Real Decreto 1145/2012). The learner is Maite Otazu, a newly qualified rolling-stock maintenance technician on the traction faults of the Tajuelo depot of a fictional regional railway operator, Ferrovias Riberanas.

Four situations set the depot's course in 2027: an electric unit that cut traction, and how the unit is made safe before any high-voltage box is opened (pantographs lowered and secured, the track's catenary isolated by the authorised person, absence of voltage verified, earthed and short-circuited, the converter's capacitors discharged, the zone signed) and how the fault is read (the event log downloaded and read before any part); a unit that trips its earth-fault protection, and how the motor is tested (disconnected, insulation measured at the maker's test voltage against its history) and the converter checked (the maker's test procedure, only the condemned part replaced); a pantograph that arcs, and how it is checked (contact force and strips against the maker's values) and how every unit is tested before service (static test and a test-track run with the recorder on); and the annual review of how each fault is reported (root cause, serial numbers, the entity in charge of maintenance) and closed (thirty days of follow-up, repeated faults reviewed).

Isolation is part of the diagnosis, not a formality before it.

Scored on the traction faults right first time, the cost of the traction-fault work, the hours of immobilisation per fault and the components replaced without need; training-level decision practice that complements the module's supervised practical work, the depot's isolation procedure and the makers' manuals, with no voltage, current, insulation value, force or procedure given.

Two critical safety errors cap the round at 40: the converter cabinet opened with the unit under the catenary (Real Decreto 614/2001, article 4.2 and Annex II.A.1), and the earth-fault detection bridged so that the unit can cover the service. Spanish primary, English parity.

An introductory simulation that assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, designed for undergraduate courses. It also works in vocational and high-school programmes and in onboarding sessions.