Owing to its strategical location, Slovenia serves as a transit point for a sizeable portion of freight flows despite its relatively small size. With the port of Koper, Luka Koper, and two important transport corridors crossing the country, it is important what kind of services and assistance are available to transport companies running trains on Slovenian network. Rolling stock maintenance has an important role in rail transport because every train operator wants to move goods with as little downtime and disruption as possible.
VIT is a subsidiary of Slovenske železnice, which provides support in rolling stock maintenance and servicing. Keeping vehicles in good working order as they operate in Slovenia has been our task ever since the Slovenian portion of the Austrian Southern Railway was first built. We have been in charge of the national train operator’s rolling stock for more than 170 years, and over the last 15 years – after the liberalisation of rail freight market, which has brought in international competitors to Slovenian network – we have also done maintenance for train operating companies from other countries.
Other than train operators, rail freight market in Slovenia has seen a considerable number of other new entrants such as locomotive and freight wagon owners, who lease rolling stock out to rail undertakings and companies without own fleet or with a fleet too small to meet the demand for transport services. For train operators to be able to offer safe journeys with low transit times from origin to destination, every vehicle making up the train needs to be in good working order. This requires regular and quality preventative maintenance, running repairs of defects and damage which cannot be foreseen and leads to loss of use, and light repairs on site.
In addition, we provide day-to-day technical consultancy to train operators; this market opportunity was first recognised in freight wagon maintenance, and has recently been expanded to include diesel and electrical locomotives. Using the extensive experience obtained from running repairs and inspections (ongoing maintenance), we designed a complete offer of general repairs and overhauls, which are the prerequisite for good preventative maintenance.
Ongoing maintenance is supplied at various locations throughout Slovenian rail network, with a focus on the busiest sections. Our workshops in Koper, Divača, Zalog, Dobova, Ptuj and Tezno provide servicing for freight wagons, with Divača, Maribor and Ljubljana in charge of diesel and electrical locomotives. Restoring wagons to operating condition can also be done on site without detachment from the train. The shop in Dobova specialises in major repairs and overhauls on freight wagons, while Ljubljana and Maribor are specially equipped to handle electrical and diesel locomotives, respectively. We also offer specialised wheelset maintenance for all types of rolling stock using our custom-built facilities in Center Ptuj. Our workshops hold the ECM certificate for the maintenance function, with Ptuj and Dobova shops also certified to VPI.
Complete maintenance of freight wagons
When doing in-house repairs, we take into account a wagon’s type, service life and type of intended cargo. They largely consists of repairs on brakes and their fittings, brake pad replacements, repairs of damaged axles and other components such as footsteps, doors, walls and tank vents, as well as rectifying cracks on various vehicle parts. Each wagon is handled on a case-by-case basis – after determining the general condition, we consult with the customer to decide what repairs are needed. We have worked on all wagon series and types, including tank wagons (except gas tanks). Pressurised equipment is handled by an in-house inspection body accredited for pressure testing of tank wagons, also according to RID requirements.
Next to ongoing maintenance we also do overhauls (often known as ‘revisions’) on freight wagons and other rolling stock. Our workshop in Dobova, which specialises in freight wagons, delivers maintenance according to the VPI or other instructions as per request. We do work for established rolling stock owners and hence know that trust can make or break a business. The quality of our services is attested by certificates of welding, non-destructive testing and pressurised equipment inspection, and by ECM certificate for the maintenance function.
On site we provide inspections of wagon condition and equipment. We make sure that the wagons assembling your train are fit to run, so that the journey can be safe and quality in terms of transit times. Our services include:
• Technical inspections of wagons at in-house locations,
• Technical inspections and assistance at on-site locations per customer request,
• Light repairs without detachment of wagons from train,
• Light repairs – securing of loads without detachment from train,
• Repairs in the field to restore wagon’s fitness to run,
• Wagon coupling and uncoupling, and attaching the safety bar,
• Complete brake testing (A) at in-house and on-site locations,
• Partial brake testing (B, C, D, BC, and BD),
• Brake testing with fixed air compressor,
• Inspection and accompanying of out-of-gauge loads,
• Consultancy and presence at loading.
Locomotive maintenance you can rely on
Our workshops in Ljubljana, Maribor and Divača use equipment specially designed for maintaining electrical and diesel locomotives, and each unit serviced further expands our know-how. We pay attention to your needs, regularly adding new services to our on-going maintenance of diesel and electrical locomotives. The experience gained from years of servicing Slovenske železnice’s fleet has been invaluable in finding new customers. Apart from rail carriers and locomotive owners operating on Slovenian rail network, we also provide services to international train operators which specifically seek out our services despite running trains on other networks.
We have the expertise needed to deliver preventative and corrective maintenance for an array of locomotive types, mainly Siemens but also Alstom, General Motors, Macosa, Đuro Đaković, Vossloh and CZ Loko. Our experience with new generations of electrical locomotives largely comes from servicing Siemens Taurus and Siemens Vectron multi-system locos, which are common across Europe. We offer a complete service for Taurus units, which includes both on-going maintenance and overhauls, and inspections for the newest generation of Vectron multi-system electrical locomotives with plans to add overhauls in the near future.
After years of training and buying specialist equipment, we have recently added overhauls to our ES 64 F4 maintenance. For diesel locomotives, we offer inspections for Siemens Hercules (ER20), Vossloh G6 and CZ Loko EffiShunter shunting units. Next to inspections for all locomotive types, we also do checks for cab radios and fire extinguishers and reconditioning of wheelsets when installed.
We add new solutions regularly to the array of services we supply independently. Our wheelset reconditioning shop at Ptuj now also delivers monobloc replacements on powered wheelsets for ES 64 U4. The wheelsets are fully inspected, and any worn or damaged components swapped out and new monoblocs shrink fitted. Moreover, we plan to expand this service to powered wheelsets of other electrical locomotive types.
Last but not least, we give special attention to older rolling stock, in particular diesel locomotives, with refurbishment programmes purposely designed to extend the serviceable life of components. We have experience with vehicle modernisation of all kinds, which includes supplying new engines and completely refurbishing existing units.
Safe and reliable wheelsets
International train operators and fleet owners know us best for our wheelset maintenance and production, which we deliver to customers around Europe. Our shop in Ptuj is specialised for wheelset assembly and reconditioning on units ranging from freight wagons to the newest electrical vehicles. While the majority of wheelsets are reconditioned according to the VPI (IL, IS0, IS1, IS2 and IS3 maintenance levels), there has been a growing demand for the wheel production in line with the TSI (BA 303, 004, 314, ULT23 and ULT25). We also service tyred wheelsets on vehicles not yet fitted with monobloc wheels.
To find out more about maintenance and repairs available for your fleet, visit our website. You can also send a query to sales@sz-vit.si or call us on +386 30 609 170. We will be happy to help you find the best maintenance solution for your vehicle.
VIT keeps your vehicles FIT.
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