Hubner wins Austrian railway repair contract

Kassel, Germany – Huebner has won a large contract to overhaul transition systems for Austrian Federal Railways OBB over a five-year period.

The remit, it said, covers the overhaul of 680 transition systems, including the Railjet fleet, whose trains have so far been using transition systems from a competitor.

Huebner said it aims to overhaul 136 transition systems per year for the Railjet fleet, which it described as “the most modern high-speed train in the ÖBB fleet”.

With a maximum speed of 230km/h, the Railjet connects all of Austria and also travels to destinations in Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Hubner said it will bring its “resource-saving” refurbishment concept for the project, which will involve first removing the frames and reusing them if possible.

The process involves checking all individual parts of the transition system and replacing those worn out, it added.

The approach is "to only replace what is really necessary - and to reuse as many components as possible,” said Christoph Steinbach, head of sales after sales & service.

Hubner has also developed a new technical solution for the refurbishment, which includes automatic drainage of the space between the outer and inner bellows.

The innovative system, it explained, allows condensation to escape from the transition without impairing the pressure tightness.

Huebner said the project was significant as it was providing overhaul to systems manufactured by another supplier.