Rolling stock maintenance - Articles and news items

Rolling Stock Maintenance & Refurbishment supplement (free to view)

Latest issue, Supplements / 13 April 2012 /

This free to view Rolling Stock Maintenance & Refurbishment supplement is sponsored by Vossloh and Mechan and features:

• East Coast – where ‘Falcon’ meets ‘Eagle’
  (Ian Duncan, Engineering Director, East Coast)
• Combination for growth turns LNWR into leading UK train maintenance specialist
  (Mark Knowles, Managing Director, LNWR) (more…)

Focused on highquality services

Latest issue / 11 April 2012 /

Abellio was established in 2003 as a subsidiary of ‘Essen Verkehrs AG’ (EVAG), the local public transportation service for the city of Essen. The purpose was to profit from opportunities of a liberalised traffic market and to utilise more than 100 years of experience.

The company’s bus and rail service structure focuses on providing high quality services and the company operates its Abellio Rail NRW subsidiary in the North Rhine Westphalia region. With three additional companies, Abellio owns 25% of WestfalenBahn which operates the Teutoburger forest network in North Rhine Westphalia and in Lower Saxony.

Abellio Rail NRW’s black and silver trains have been in operation on the Ruhr district’s local transport network since December 2005. Upon market entry the company operated on the lines RB 40 Ruhr-Lenne-Bahn from Essen to Hagen and line RB 46 Glückauf-Bahn from Bochum to Gelsenkirchen. The transport association Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) initially granted operation on the RB 40 line for two years and so the acquisition of new vehicles would not have been feasible at that time. (more…)

FML’s continuous expansion to achieve positive results

Issue 6, 2011 / 6 December 2011 /

Freightliner Maintenance Ltd (FML) is Freightliner Group’s dedicated in-house maintenance operation. As it continues on its course of expansion, FML has reinstated an out-of-use and run-down engineering facility in York. Maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock is a core necessity to any successful rail operator. A high level of availability of locomotives through efficient maintenance can increase an operator’s performance that customers see and experience. In an interview for European Railway Review, Dave Curtis, General Manager at FML gives an overview of the work carried out at the site in York and explains the benefits that this new site will bring.

In 2006, Freightliner Group recognised an opportunity to enhance its business offering of operating award winning trains and diversify to the maintenance of its fleet with cost control and rolling stock performance as key success criteria.

“We believed that we could further improve reliability and reduce both downtime and costs by incorporating the maintenance function into the Freightliner business,” explained Dave. “Freightliner Heavy Haul’s business success relied on dependable main – tainers with a swift turnaround time and was a key decision to ensure the security and service delivery.” (more…)

The developing maintenance markets – a trend for the future

Issue 2 2011 / 6 April 2011 /

Over the past years, a market for maintenance has developed and this market is becoming more-and-more vibrant, leading to astonishing cost savings and efficiency gains. The industry welcomes this development and calls up on the legislator to put in place the right framework for the future.

For decades, the maintenance of rolling stock and infrastructure was carried out by the maintenance divisions of the state railways. This has changed. With the increasing degree of liberalisation and the disintegration of the incumbent railways, the number of actors in the railway sector has multiplied. As a result of this, a market for railway maintenance has begun to develop and it can be witnessed how, slowly but surely, more-andmore railway operators and infrastructure managers outsource maintenance activities to third parties instead of relying on in-house maintenance divisions. (more…)

New trains for old? Rolling stock maintenance and replacement in the UK

Issue 2 2011 / 6 April 2011 /

Governments, passengers and freight customers have rising expectations and aspirations for the rail system. There is a constant pressure to drive up availability and reliability, and to drive down costs, while assuring and improving safety. At the same time, users want improved service levels, with increasing demands for better information systems, travelling environments and on-board facilities as rail tries to strengthen its competitive position against other modes. (more…)

Northern first to achieve new RISAS accreditation

Rail industry news / 4 February 2010 /

In a rail industry first, Northern Rail has been awarded Rail Industry Supplier Approval Scheme (RISAS) approval for mileage-based maintenance. (more…)

Maintenance workshops are key driver for rail success

Issue 2 2009, Past issues / 26 March 2009 /

Arriva Deutschland has an increasingly visible presence on the German rail network with trains travelling millions of kilometres per year and moving tens of thousands of people each day. The unseen driving force behind this success is Arriva’s network of rail workshops which ensures our fleets are ready for service every day.

Getting more than 210 trains into service and making sure they are maintained and ready to meet the daily needs of a busy timetable is a challenge which we, like many other rail operators, have to face.

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Contact-free high-speed data transmission

Issue 6 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 /

The collaboration between mechanical and electrical engineers often results in a fascinating challenge. This paper deals with a solution to the problem of transmitting on-board information between railway cars connected by means of automatic couplers.

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Neopul’s dedicated work in Ireland

Issue 6 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 /

Neopul is actively working on some important projects in Ireland which include the Laois Traincare Depot, the LUAS Red Cow Rail Diversion and the LUAS B1-400 extension. (more…)

A breath of fresh air

Issue 6 2006, Past issues / 28 November 2006 /

A basic and indispensable pre-requisite for a well-functioning integrated rail system with over 37,000 trains a day running to tight schedules is having a high-tech, innovative rolling stock maintenance system. Thus a position of real importance falls to DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung GmbH, which is assigned to the services division of Deutsche Bahn.

Currently, Deutsche Bahn AG, as the largest European mobility service provider, operates 12 works and three workshops for ‘heavy-duty maintenance’ in Germany. The works have accumulated a unique blend of specialist knowledge in heavy-duty rolling stock maintenance. They represent a combined system uniting competence and a broad range of specialist knowledge for providing rapid yet customer-oriented maintenance. (more…)

An engineering change

Issue 4 2006, Past issues / 28 July 2006 /

Since its inception seven years ago, Freightliner Heavy Haul has grown to become a business with a turnover in excess of £75m. Part of the company’s success is the recognition that engineering expertise has a key role to play in delivering and improving service and efficiency. Now, with capacity approaching saturation point – and the railways under ever greater strain – Freightliner continues to find new solutions to old problems.

Over the past few years, the Freightliner Engineering Department have achieved what can only be described as a revolution in asset performance. The team, which draws upon an experienced blend of chartered and technician trained engineers, have undertaken technical procurement of over 100 locomotives and 1,000 wagons (in six distinct fleets), over 150 trucks, 300 road trailers and 26 container handlers, as well as civil engineering projects at numerous Freightliner sites across the UK.

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Vehicle maintenance at Railion

Issue 2 2006, Past issues / 3 April 2006 /

Efficient and effective vehicle maintenance is a key competitive factor for any railway undertaking operating freight rail services. To this end maintenance must be consistently geared towards operations. Flexibility in respect of time and location, quality and ideal cost structures are success factors that bring about the most efficient use of vehicles. Thanks to its long-standing experience, area-wide service network and high capacity levels, Railion is in a position to offer these success factors to all railway undertakings operating rail freight services.

Deutsche Bahn AG’s freight rail services are incorporated in the Railion Unit in the DB Logistics Division. In addition to Railion Germany, Railion boasts undertakings in Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy. With some 23,000 employees, turnover approaching €3.3 billion and a transport capacity in excess of 77 million ton-kilometres (tkm), Railion is Europe’s largest freight rail undertaking.

(more…)