German company Vossloh has signed an agreement to acquire the rail milling business of Strabag Rail in a bid to bolster its rail and switch maintenance services.
The transaction includes the acquisition of Strabag Rail’s four milling machines, as well as the transfer of its 30 employees.
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According to Vossloh, the purchase price and expected sales of the transaction are in the low double-digit million range.
Rail milling involves repairing deep rail defects and re-profiling the railhead to improve operational safety. It also works to increase the lifecycle of rail tracks and reduce noise emissions.
Vossloh CEO Andreas Busemann said: “When rails have been milled and are back in perfect condition, we build on this by offering the customer our worldwide unique preventive maintenance technology, the so-called high-speed grinding.
“This allows minor damage to the track surface, unavoidable during the course of rail infrastructure use, to be eliminated before it can lead to new serious rail defects.
“This is the perfect combination for rail track maintenance since it increases the availability of the tracks and creates value for our customers.”
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Upon completion, the rail milling business will be integrated into Vossloh’s milling segment, which is operated by the company’s subsidiary Alpha Rail Team based in Berlin.
The acquisition is expected to support the company’s Lifecycle Solutions division expansion as a maintenance service provider in Europe.
In August, Vossloh signed a deal to acquire Laing O’Rourke’s concrete rail sleeper manufacturing specialist Austrak.
