In cooperation with Bombardier Transportation, usb applied for a research project last year. The aim is to develop an alternative drive train for rail vehicles. Weight reduction plays a central role here. The Mass Management Software M³ already in use at BT is to be expanded to analyse the weight reduction potentials and transfer them to other projects. The consortium for this 3-year research project also includes the Fraunhofer Institute IISB, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the companies Jenoptik and VIPCO.