Environmental Relevance of Composite Materials for Trains through LCA

The Korean tilting train is one of the first applications of composite materials to structural pieces of a train. This Life Cycle Assessment study is comparing the potential environmental impacts of 1 car-body of a regional train over 25 years made in composite and the current alternatives based on steel or aluminium. Results allow to identify major processes determining the life cycle impact of this one car-body and allow to investigate the advantages of introducing composite in trains.