Deutsche Bahn (DB) has drawn a positive conclusion after one year of ICE maintenance in Cottbus: In the first year, a total of 13 ICE 4s with over 160 carriages were in the new workshop for maintenance as planned. This means that the employees not only achieved the target for the ramp-up phase after commissioning, but even completed the last overhaul in 2024 slightly ahead of schedule. This contributed to DB being able to use many trains at Christmas and offer travelers reliable connections.
At the start of 2025, a seven-car ICE 4 will be in the workshop in Cottbus for the first time. This is because DB has decided to consolidate the heavy maintenance for all ICE 4 types in Cottbus. In addition to the XXL ICE with 13 carriages and the twelve-car trains, the seven-car trains are now also coming to Lusatia for overhaul. With a total of 137 trains, the ICE 4 is the backbone of DB long-distance traffic. DB has more trains of no other series in its fleet.
Originally, other plants in addition to Cottbus were planned for a longer transition period for the heavy maintenance of the ICE 4. Due to the infrastructure tailored to the ICE 4 and the dedicated teams at the Cottbus plant, ICE maintenance can now be brought together in Lusatia earlier.
“The ICE maintenance in Lusatia is already a great success: Our experts designed the two-track workshop for rapid and efficient maintenance, especially of the ICE 4. And the teams in Cottbus have implemented the optimized processes in practice even faster than expected. This means that the new Cottbus plant is already making an important contribution to high vehicle availability and a stable service from DB in its first year of operation – and is thus supporting the restructuring of the DB Group,” Dr. Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, DB Board Member for Digitalization and Technology, said.
Hall 2 of the new plant in Cottbus is optimized for the smaller of the two heavy maintenance stages of the ICE 4, the so-called IS 600: The trains can drive into the hall at their full length and under their own power. Employees can then work on the train on three levels at the same time: on top of the roof on the air conditioning systems and pantographs, on the sides on the flaps behind which a lot of technology is located on the ICE 4, and in the continuous work pit under the train.
On the two elevated tracks in the workshop, each bogie of the ICE 4 comes to a precise stop on a work stand. The rails can be folded away so that employees can quickly replace wheel sets and bogies. The overhead line in the workshop can be swung to the side so that the train roof with air conditioning and pantographs is easily accessible for inspection work.
DB to increase capacity utilization in Cottbus
In 2025, DB will continue to increase capacity utilization in Cottbus: A total of 24 ICE 4s are to come to Cottbus for overhaul – twelve short, seven-car trains and twelve long ICE 4s with 12 or 13 carriages. For 14 of the 24 trains, the larger of the two heavy maintenance stages, the so-called IS 700, is scheduled for inspection in Hall 2.
The IS 700 is always in line after 3.3 million kilometers of mileage. When the new plant in Cottbus is complete, this more extensive maintenance stage will move to Hall 1. The DB has been building Hall 1, which is over 500 meters long and has three maintenance tracks, a commissioning track and a painting track, on another part of the Cottbus plant site since January 2024.
For the IS 700, the ICE 4 carriages are uncoupled. In addition to maintenance and overhaul work on doors, pantographs and brakes, couplings and carriage transitions on the IS 700 are also thoroughly checked and replaced if necessary. The employees also work on the running and driving bogies, change the front noses and replace air conditioning systems.
With the two new halls in Cottbus, DB is creating a total of 1,200 new training and industrial jobs. Because IS 600 and IS 700 are already being carried out in Cottbus, the maintenance teams can prepare comprehensively for the full commissioning of the new plant – with IS 600 in the optimized Hall 2 and IS 700 in the even larger Hall 1.
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