Voith’s new bogie workshop at its Rail Service Centre in Kiel, Germany, has received its first order.
The company will be overhauling a fleet of 21 EMUs operated by Cantus on the Nordost-Hessen network between Göttingen, Kassel, Fulda and Eisenach.
The trains, three and four-car Stadler Flirt units, will have all motor and trailer bogies overhauled by 2021.
Trains will have their bogies exchanged for refurbished ones and be ready to return to service in three or four days. The removed bogies will then be overhauled ready to be similarly exchanged for those on a later train.
The new bogie workshop has the capability of stripping bogies down, removing and refitting wheel sets, ultrasonically inspecting critical components and then cleaning , inspecting and reassembling everything again.
In total, more than 100 bogies will be refurbished as part of the Cantus contract. The powered bogies are anyway fitted with a Voith SZH-595 transmission.
While undergoing refurbishment, bogies will only have items replaced if it is really necessary. So brakes that are not worn out will not be replaced, saving the operator both time and cost. At the same time, any unreported or accidental damage will be repaired.
