In the presence of State Minister Albert Füracker, District Administrator Thomas Ebeling and Lord Mayor Andreas Feller, DB and RAIL.ONE ceremonially commission the new turnout sleeper plant in Schwandorf in southern Germany.
The production plant will be operated by RAIL.ONE Schwandorf GmbH, a subsidiary of the international PCM RAIL.ONE Group. “We are proud to be able to supply our most important customer Deutsche Bahn with even higher quality products from the most modern production plant in the entire Group,” says Dr Ludwig Friedl, CTO of the company.
In October 2017, RAIL.ONE won DB Netz AG’s tender for the planning, construction and operation of the new plant and will now operate it for the next 15 years. “One reason for choosing this location is the previous distribution of plants for the production of concrete turnout sleepers in Germany. This location is now the most southern and will primarily supply the regional divisions South and Southeast of DB Netz AG,” says Klaus-Dieter Josel, Deutsche Bahn’s group representative for the Free State of Bavaria.
The proximity to DB’s turnout plant will allow joint delivery of turnout bearers and components in the future, which will significantly improve logistics for supplying track construction sites. Before the start of serial production in November 2019, an extensive trial run will be carried out to obtain approval from the Federal Railway Authority and the DB AG Quality Inspection Service. On the premises of DB Netz AG in Schwandorf, Germany, up to 180,000 linear metres of prestressed concrete turnout sleepers will be produced annually for Germany.