01.01.07
A centre of excellence for rail drive systems
ZF Great Britain Limited has been supplying rail drive systems for more than 40 years. It has underlined its commitment to customers in the rail sector by opening a dedicated centre of excellence.
ZF offers a full line of drive systems for diesel and electric locomotives, multiple units with under floor power units, trams, light rail systems, and track maintenance vehicles. UK rail applications include the Docklands Light Railway, Stagecoach Supertram in Sheffield, Northern Rail, Heathrow Express Type 168 and 170 Turbostar trains and Eurotunnel shuttle locomotives.
ZF operates from an extensive office, workshop and warehouse complex in Nottingham, covering more than 7 hectares, with a dedicated rail workshop, opened in 2003, of more than 900 m2 which carries a £2 million plus parts inventory. It is staffed by a team of factory trained technicians and features the latest tooling, diagnostic systems and a dedicated test rig. They are capable of repairing and remanufacturing all ZF rail transmissions and drive systems. Services also include technical support, repairs to ZF standard, fixed price repair schemes and a ZF exchange scheme.
John Millward, manager, says that regular inspections are a key part of the company’s preventive maintenance service, citing Heathrow Express as a prime example. “Based on predicted usage and expected wear levels, overhaul times were originally set at 500,000 kilometre intervals. However, by using regular inspections, Eurotunnel has extended overhaul periods to beyond 1 million kilometres. This provides the customer with a significant operating cost saving, and highlights the quality and durability of the original ZF equipment, coupled with OEM support. We strip the transmissions, clean all the parts and carry out a thorough inspection. All seals and gaskets are replaced and if no problems are identified, the unit is rebuilt. We monitor wear and damage, recording and cross referencing between comparable applications to chart trends. This allows us to identify and rectify developing faults long before they cause costly downtime.”
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