Company focus: voestalpine Schienen GmbH The European centre of rail production

Significant feature is the production of weld-free rails up to 120m, on customer request head-hardened and delivered just-in-time (JIT) to the construction site.

For the further expansion of the technological leadership position investment in an entirely new rail rolling mill has taken place. Besides other innovations the new mill applies as the only one in the world the so-called UFR-technology (Ultra-Flexible Rolling).

Even narrower tolerances, essentially improved surface execution and alignment towards a JIT-production – possible by shortest section change times – are the most important advantages of the investment. Benefit for the customers: a precision and quality of rail products not possible up to now and above all, an unmatched flexibility in the production process.

Voestalpine Schienen: redefining top performance.

With the creation of even more enhanced customer benefit in mind, voestalpine has developed a quality pentagon representing the company's product and performance concept:

• ultra-long: 120 metres – the longest in the world
  
  Longer rails mean less welding. This keeps costs down and also minimises risk from defects. We developed our uniquely long 120m rails for our customers and are pleased to see them growing in popularity.
• ultra-precise: geometrically exact - physically and chemically perfect
  
  Voestalpine Schienen make rails - just rails. Our new rail rolling mill is therefore equipped solely for rail production, which enables us to further minimise tolerances. This means our customers benefit from outstanding dimensional consistency and smoothness of the rail surface, along with the purity of the steel and absence of tension within the actual rails.
• ultra-durable: HSH® - the solution for high-performance railway tracks
  
  Voestalpine Schienen offers a comprehensive range of head-hardened premium rail products, so that a suitable rail type is available for any application. We are also the only manufacturer in the world that supplies head-hardened rails up to 120 m length as well as head-hardened grooved rails for tramways (available in the ultra-hard "fit-and-forget” quality and also in grades suitable for deposit welding).
  
  This means our rails are extremely wear-resistant and have a significantly improved resistance against rolling contact fatigue (“head checks”) - a defect that is currently causing enormous problems in railway networks.
• ultra-flexible: In both word and deed the customer is king
  
  Not only does voestalpine make state of the art rails, we combine this with excellent customer service (logistics, system support, rail-related services).
  Flexibility is a key requirement for being able to serve customers to their enhanced benefit.
  We offer just-in-time deliveries to construction sites - including, if needed, unloading of the ultra-long rails with our Railputler® - custom machines designed solely for this purpose.
  
  We have two 24 hour fully automated stock-yards for our ultra-long rails. These are operated round the clock and have become the benchmarks on which our competitors are measured.
• ultra-economical: Lowest LCC for highest customer benefit
  
  The life-cycle cost philosophy of voestalpine Schienen – being a pioneer in this field - focuses on the core benefits to its rail customers:

OUR OFFERING:

• investment, procurement, product selection from innovative premium products including the largest family of head-hardened rail steel grades world-wide (HSH®)
• leading world-wide supply chain management and just-in-time logistical expertise
• system expertise for the railway track based on lifecycle cost and RAMS criteria (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety)

YOUR BENEFIT:

• cost-effective investments (taking into account all aspects of the product, logistics and installation)
• minimised maintenance, maximised availability (significantly reduced maintenance cost and increased track availability for uninterrupted train operation)
• sustainable utilisation of resources (longer life-cycle with substantial overall extension of service life and investment cycle, renewal and recycling fast, cost-effective and with minimum disruption).

What counts is not the cheapest product, but the most economical solution.

We are a leading consortium partner in relevant research & development projects sponsored by the European Union. The InnoTrack Project which is co-funded by the European Union (as Integrated Project under the 6th Framework Program in the research area “Development of cost-effective high performance track infrastructure for heavy and light rail systems”) is a joint response of the major stakeholders in the rail sector. Official work started with the kick-off-meeting having taken place at Berlin in September 2006. The project duration will be 3 years with a first evaluation after 18 months. While increased rail transport inevitably places greater demands on the track, causing more damage and higher maintenance costs, the InnoTrack main objective is to reduce the LCC, while improving the RAMS characteristics. Voestalpine is actively participating and supporting this project towards the further strengthening of the rail system efficiency in accordance with the European transport policy.

The calculation is simple. More benefit for the customer.

In order to provide the best overall solutions, we are frequently working together in partnerships with many major railways in the world. Every project is implemented in close interaction with our customers based on their specific requirements. For this purpose, we also have specially devised LCC software tools for both railway and urban transport projects.
Systematic track testing performed together with one of the leading European railways has confirmed the following calculated benefits:

• increase of rail service lifetime by 200% and more
• saving of total life cycle cost by 35% and more
• reduction of maintenance down-time by 50% and more.

Our commitment

Thanks to the use of advanced technologies, the company’s comprehensive system expertise, its targeted service orientation, and the competence network comprising all railway-dedicated companies of the voestalpine Division Railway Systems, voestalpine Schienen GmbH has achieved a leading position in the world-wide market.

The success of today is however always also a challenge for the future. Thus we remain true to our commitment to our customers: offering the most attractive goods and services in order to continuously further enhance their benefit.

voestalpine Schienen: redefining top performance in rails.