Bogies from Graz contributo to the availability of rail vehicles

The safety and availability of the rail vehicles is gaining growing importance on account of the gradual increase of speeds in passenger transport, tragic accidents in the recent past and the privatization of transport enterprises. Manufacturers, operators and authorities are currently responding to the resulting demands. Siemens SGP Verkehrstechnik, Graz, has defined appropriate measures for bogies in the areas development/-engineering, trial operation, production and operational support. However, there are still deficits, especially in the field of a co-ordinated co-operation of these institutions. For instance, new maintenance and overhaul concepts have to be jointly defined under due consideration of advances in vehicle diagnostics and in the field of documentation. In addition, generally binding standard procedures have to be introduced for safety systems, such as FME(C)A, and the systematic acquisition and evaluation of field data is to be intensified. It is suggested to provide a platform in the rail vehicle industry for the establishment of the new standards.