New exhaust regulations, increasing demands on traveling comfort and obsolete technologies force owners and operators of rail vehicles to think about reinvestment. The best example: the fully privatised rail vehicle market in the UK. As a leading systems supplier for the rail industry, Voith Turbo can offer individual solutions for existing vehicles in order to give them a new lease of life.
Be it Class 15X, 165/166, Class 168/170, 175/180 or Class 185 – the UK is the country of diesel railcars and consequently an important market for Voith Turbo. Some 2,800 Voith turbo transmissions, primarily type T 211, are in service with British rail operators. Voith Turbo is also represented in the diesel-electric and electric trains of Class 220/222 or 390: with final drives, cardan shafts, electronic controls, SafeSet couplings or – as in the HST high-speed train – with cooling systems.
Just in time for the Olympic Summer Games in 2012, many operators would like to provide upgraded vehicles. With a drive system that has been modernised by Voith, you will not only be able to adhere to current exhaust gas limits but fuel consumption can also be significantly reduced, while higher input powers increase your transport capacity. This is where Voith Turbo comes in with its systems solutions. Individual Voith-Powerpacks, or “ReplacementPacks”, are the answer. If required, a completely new driveline consisting of engine, transmission, cooling system, control unit, piping and frame can be integrated into the vehicle. As an alternative, the vehicle owner can also have certain Powerpack components installed into the existing driveline of his old vehicle.
As part of various modernisation programs, Voith Turbo has already carried out a number of adaptations of existing transmissions. This became necessary after the installation of new engines with higher speeds or higher outputs. The “ReplacementPack” is not only intended to give old vehicles a new lease of life, but has also been proven to result in lower fuel consumption, lower life cycle costs and, thanks to better performance (owing to improved acceleration values), to shorter traveling times.