The prototype of a complete railcar drive package has been operating successfully at PKP Polish State Railways in the south of Gdansk for nearly a year now.

With the drive package, Voith Turbo is pursuing a new development in the rail market, offering the classic Voith components turbo transmission, cooling system and control unit together with a diesel engine and an electronic generator as a complete drive unit – the Voith Power-pack® – in one single frame.

The Voith Powerpack can be rounded off as a complete drive solution by the addition of suitable Voith final drives and Voith cardan shafts.

The successful Polish reference has earned Voith Turbo its first major order for 180 drive packages.

The Voith Powerpacks will be installed in the “Minuetto” railcars built by Alstom. The pre-series Voith Powerpack which has just been launched consists of a Voith T 212 bre turbo transmission and an Iveco V8 diesel engine, and will be thoroughly tested prior to its actual service on the rails. In April, the first Voith Powerpacks will be entering series-production, from June onwards, the vehicles will undergo trials in Italy – their future country of operation.