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Press Release26 November 2019Siemens MobilityRotterdam
Locomotive Workshop Rotterdam opened festively: new facility strengthens port positioning
LWR is a joint venture between locomotive manufacturer
Siemens Mobility B.V. and train leasing company Mitsui Rail Capital Europe
(MRCE). The workshop for preventive and corrective maintenance, inspections and
updates - usually within a day's time frame - has eight parking tracks and six
working tracks. It is connected to the railway network via a switch on the main
track. Locomotives reach and leave the site on two parallel tracks. With a
sliding bridge, incoming locomotives are placed on the right track. Before they
enter the workshop, locomotives are first cleaned in a washing area where
diesel locomotives are also welcome. On the silage wheel bench, the train
wheels of high-speed locomotives can be precisely profiled to the nearest tenth
of a millimeter.
Unique for a European locomotive workshop and a
technical tour de force are the test tracks with overhead contact lines by
Siemens on which all network voltages of railway lines in Europe can be
applied. In this way, LWR is zooming in on the increasing demand for
maintenance of technically complex cross-border locomotives. Olaf Kuijper,
director of LWR: "We took a good look at people’s knowledge and know-how
when putting together the team. We not only have selected specialists from the
rail sector, but also people with a commissioning background and two former
Apache helicopter mechanics. They operate with military precision and a high
level of safety awareness, which is just as relevant on railways. Consider,
too, the use of personalized tools. We have adopted this approach for our entire
team, which has an open culture; address each other’s behavior and mistakes. As
a young company in a relatively conservative sector, we do things just that
little bit differently. There is a genuine sense of ownership." The
locomotive workshop is suitable for all types of electric locomotives.
The port of Rotterdam is
the starting and ending point of over 250 international rail transports per
week. LWR's location eliminates the need for lengthy locomotive movements,
saving both time and money. Kuijper continues: "What I would like to
mention is the tremendous cooperation that ProRail and the Port of Rotterdam
Authority have shown, such as making the site at Maasvlakte 2 available and
connecting it to the existing railway network. Partly due to their cooperation
this new top location has been realized so quickly." The design and
construction of the workshop have already considered future extensions of the
railway network around the site. This makes future expansion of capacity and
facilities easily possible. To minimize the CO2 footprint, solar
panels have been installed on the roof of the workshop providing 50% of the
energy requirement.
Siemens Mobility is a separately managed company of Siemens AG. As a leader in transport solutions for more than 160 years, Siemens Mobility is constantly innovating its portfolio in its core areas of rolling stock, rail automation and electrification, turnkey systems, intelligent traffic systems as well as related services. With digitalization, Siemens Mobility is enabling mobility operators worldwide to make infrastructure intelligent, increase value sustainably over the entire lifecycle, enhance passenger experience and guarantee availability. In fiscal year 2019, which ended on September 30, 2019, the former Siemens Mobility Division posted revenue of €8.9 billion and had around 36,800 employees worldwide. Further information is available at: www.siemens.com/mobility.