“SHAPING the future of rail infrastructure” is both an aspiration and a roadmap for Vossloh to play an active part in designing future railway infrastructure in cooperation with its customers. With its wide range of track and infrastructure-related products, services and solutions, the rail technology company is meeting challenges head-on while addressing its customers’ needs for greater rail network efficiency, safety, and availability.
Safer track
Safety is the railway industry’s top priority. To meet customer requirements today and in the future, Vossloh consistently develops and tests new rail infrastructure components that work together to increase track stability and performance. Vossloh’s systemic approach is designed to enhance safety while extending the service life of track, even in the face of accelerated wear or rising rail temperatures caused by global warming. As track loads continue to rise, the company is focused on providing its customers with reliable technology that will increase the availability of lines, helping to boost rail traffic.
For example, the deployment of infrastructure components such as the M-Generation tension clamp is improving track resilience. With an optimised geometry and natural frequency above 1000Hz, the new tension clamps react more robustly to changes in vibration and offer higher fatigue strength. This not only reduces lifecycle costs, but also permits higher track elasticity. Overall track stability is also significantly increased due to a 100% improvement in torsional stiffness.
This is one of the reasons why the M7 tension clamp has established itself as the new European standard and why Vossloh has expanded its M-Generation portfolio to all track applications to meet specific customer demand (Figure 1).
Where a significant increase in track stability is necessary such as on bridges, in transition areas or on tight curves to prevent track buckling, the new High Torsional Resistance (HTR) angled guide plate is the perfect complement. Thanks to a 400% increase in torsional stiffness, HTR further enhances track safety.
An eco-friendly alternative
Through its composite Engineered Polymer Sleeper (EPS), Vossloh has developed an eco-friendly alternative to wooden sleepers that is setting new standards. The EPS avoids the main drawback of wooden sleepers, namely the use of harmful and environmentally damaging compounds required to extend service life. Instead, Vossloh’s new composite sleeper combines the benefits of concrete, wooden, and plastic sleepers into a single product. The sleeper is made from the newly developed isotropic material amalentic, which consists entirely of secondary raw materials that are of industrial quality and are entirely recyclable even after a long service life.
Key features of EPS are:
- high weather resistance
- low coefficient of thermal expansion
- high density, and
- high lateral track stability and stable gauge.
In addition, the multifunctional mould concept used in the highly advanced and automated production process for EPS permits the use of track applications that were previously impossible to achieve (Figure 2). With no limitations to the design or shape that the mould can offer, the position and the type of reinforcement is adaptable to the specifications of the individual application, offering customers a variety of rail fastening solutions. This includes classic indirect fastening with ribbed plate or direct fastening with prefabricated trapezoidal bead.
With 22 fewer components used, direct fastenings offer a significantly reduced carbon footprint as well as an economic benefit due to the reduced costs of materials and transport. There are also several engineering advantages:
- better adjustment options
- better transfer of forces from the rail into the sleeper avoiding lateral loading of the screws
- reduced risk of corrosion
- faster installation, and
- higher elasticity.
Vossloh’s vision is for the EPS to become the global standard whenever a concrete sleeper is not the optimum solution.
As Vossloh focuses on optimising lateral track stability and the flexibility of the entire permanent way, the company has also developed innovative under-sleeper pads to round off the product range. The novel material mix used in the Engineered Polymer Pad (EPP)largely consists of recycled materials and is, of course, produced with green energy.
The EPP meets various customer requirements in terms of elasticity, material thickness and sleeper geometry. Thanks to the greater area of contact with the ballast, the under-sleeper pad increases track stability, insulates against vibrations, and reduces the static and dynamic forces acting on the point supporting the rail. All of this results in:
- less sleeper settlement and asymmetric sleeper support
- increased transverse and longitudinal resistance of the sleeper, and
- reduced bending moment in the sleeper.
All track components benefit from the vibration damping effect of the EPP, reducing lifecycle costs for the entire rail infrastructure. This is reflected in lower maintenance requirements due to longer tamping intervals and a reduction of longitudinal rail defects such as corrugations. At the same time, passenger comfort improves due to substantial reductions in structure-borne noise emissions.
Green production
Demonstrating a reduced carbon footprint is an increasingly important part of tendering exercises. Vossloh is responding through a strong commitment to sustainability, which is reflected in excellent results in recent sustainability ratings. Indeed, in 2024, Vossloh was honoured with the EcoVadis Gold Medal and won the prestigious German Sustainability Award. The interdisciplinary jury of top-class experts cited the company’s achievements in developing climate-friendly, innovative, and efficient solutions in the field of rail infrastructure, and highlighted the group’s work to exercise social responsibility towards employees, to encourage an efficient use of resources, and to establish sustainable supply chains.
The recycled manganese crossing, which was presented for the first time at InnoTrans 2024 (Figure 3), is one of Vossloh’s most ambitious recent projects. It also epitomises the company’s commitment to green production and the circular economy. The refined metal used in the crossing is proven to offer an extended service life and to achieve a significant improvement in its climate impact. When replacement is required, Vossloh is introducing a circular economy model for the metallurgical process. Customers will return their worn crossings for recycling, effectively turning them into suppliers of raw material. The initial discussions about introducing this cooperation are already underway. Challenges such as controlling the composition of the alloy and optimising energy losses have already been addressed through tests, the introduction of special machinery and logistic adjustments.
Lifecycle management of turnouts and tracks
To monitor the condition of cast manganese crossings in the track, Vossloh offers a variety of services through its SoniQ Rail Explorer. The new ultrasonic feature is now completely integrated into the high-performing, modular test electronics and software used by Vossloh’s partner Fraunhofer IKTS. The manual probes developed in collaboration with UltraRS detect discontinuities such as cracks, inclusions, shrinking faults, and pores inside the rail to a depth of at least 60mm below the running surface.
This is just one example of how Vossloh is pioneering systems that increase the availability and safety of turnouts and track at an affordable cost. It also shows how the company is supporting its customers with sustainable and efficient solutions at all stages of the turnout lifecycle.
No other company covers such a wide range of end-to-end services; from detection and interpretation of the actual condition of track infrastructure to preventive and corrective rail and turnout maintenance and full rail and turnout replacement, including just-in-time logistics.
Through its remote Smart Maintenance offer, Vossloh has reinvented all aspects of rail maintenance to improve track performance for the customer. By equipping its HSG grinding machines with the most advanced LRS measuring technology, it is possible to record rail condition at speeds of up to 80km/h. This data is transferred in real time to Vossloh’s mapl-e platform. The cloud-based web solution uses the colours of a traffic light to offer a simple image of the track’s condition, indicating whether immediate, deferred or no remedial action is required. At the push of a button, the tool uses a complex set of algorithms to evaluate various maintenance scenarios to identify the most suitable rail treatment machine and to calculate both the treatment time and cost.
Digitalisation as enabler for track availability
The example of mapl-e shows that digital tools are essential to increase the availability and the efficiency of track maintenance planning and implementation. The wide range of services available within the one-stop-shop offered by Vossloh connect also illustrates how Vossloh, as a leading supplier of integrated railway infrastructure solutions, is opening up new opportunities in this dynamic sector. The user-friendly, cloud-based platform (Figure 4) combines various solutions, including from partner companies, which either alone or together can address specific customer requirements. The effective interpretation of Big Data is providing concrete recommendations for action and contributing to an overall improvement in track and infrastructure performance.
For further news and information on solutions driving the digital transformation of rail infrastructure and green mobility, including advanced infrastructure, switch system drivers, and Smart Maintenance & Track Supply, visit vossloh-topic-lounge.com or vossloh-connect.com.
