IEC 61287-1 — Railway applications — Power converters installed on board rolling stock — Part 1: Characteristics and test methods

Scope

Defines the electrical, thermal and environmental characteristics and the type-test programme for power converters installed on board railway vehicles — traction converters, auxiliary converters and DC/DC converters that condition supply or battery power for propulsion and onboard systems. Now in its third edition (2014), with an identical CENELEC EN 61287-1 twin plus a 2014 corrigendum.

IEC 61287-1 is the product standard a converter has to satisfy before it goes on a vehicle: rated voltage and current ranges, efficiency and derating rules across the traction power-supply envelope of EN 50163, harmonic and switching behaviour, thermal design limits, and the full test sequence — type tests (dielectric, temperature rise, efficiency, overload), routine tests and, where relevant, special tests for specific converter topologies. It sits downstream of the traction-motor standards (IEC 60349 series) and upstream of the vehicle-level electrical-compatibility requirements of EN 50388-1, forming the electrical backbone of a traction chain together with them. Converter suppliers use it to define and prove product ratings; vehicle integrators cite it in procurement specifications and use its test methods to verify supplied converters meet the duty cycle and network conditions of a given project; certification bodies use it as the reference for type-test witnessing. Because onboard converters increasingly also serve hybrid and battery-electric architectures, IEC 61287-1 is frequently read alongside IEC 62864-1 (onboard energy storage) on projects that combine conventional electrification with battery or supercapacitor buffering.