Czech railway infrastructure manager SŽDC took over from Plasser & Theurer a special vehicle for control, maintenance and repairs of the catenary, the MTW 100.013/7. This is the first delivery of a vehicle from abroad especially designed and produced for works on the catenary. In October 2015, SŽDC signed a contract with the Austrian company for the delivery of three cars with a total value of CZK 173 million (6.4 million euros). The following remaining two cars will be delivered by Austrians this autumn.
MTW 100.013/7 is a four-axle vehicle with hydrodynamic power transmission and 520 kW engine power. A freight crane is installed on the vehicle with a possibility of connecting a basket, a lifting platform, jibs for manipulating the catenary conductor and cable, towers for height calibration of the catenary conductor and a measuring current collector. The vehicle is specific by its length (21,400 mm), which is by 2,500 mm greater than the Series MTW 100 vehicles standardly produced. Moreover, it has a camera set which provides the driver and crew not only with a perfect view on the vehicles’ surroundings but also supervision on the state and activity of equipment and the measuring current collector.
“We cannot maintain and repair railway infrastructure in an adequate way without means of mechanisation. We are quite aware that current technology has been gradually wearing out. From this point of view, purchasing new vehicles specially designed for maintenance of the catenary is truly a revolutionary step. … We appreciate indeed that our plans are being supported by the Ministry of Transport and the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure”, said Jiří Svoboda, Deputy Director General of SŽDC for rail operability.
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