Skyrail vehicles can handle vertical travel up to 30 degrees gradient without spring-actuated counterpressure rollers. Thanks to a patented system concept, they manage with considerably less tractive force than the vehicles of a C1 EHB. They also have less dead weight to move, which is why they can reach speeds of up to 150 meters per minute with smaller engines. In addition, one drive is sufficient for Skyrail vehicles, while their C1 counterparts require two drives. All these design advantages result in energy savings of between 75 and 80 percent - which is clearly noticeable in a conveyor system with several hundred vehicles.
"When developing Skyrail, we placed a lot of emphasis on resource-saving functionality and high energy efficiency," says Carsten Schmidt, managing director of SEH Engineering's Conveyor Systems division. This is why the Skyrail system requires only minimal steel construction. At up to six meters, the aluminum rails span twice the distance of a C1-standard EMS. According to Carsten Schmidt, this allows costs to be reduced by up to 40 percent compared with a C1 EMS.