CZECH REPUBLIC: A Hegenscheidt underfloor wheel lathe has been installed by Strabag at national operator ČD’s main coach and multiple-unit maintenance depot in Praha.

Semi-permanently coupled trainsets can be worked on out without uncoupling the vehicles, which will simplify maintenance of Alstom Pendolino, Siemens Railjet and Škoda  Transportation InterPanter, CityElefant and RegioPanter fleets.

‘The new underfloor lathe will enable us to reduce vehicle maintenance costs in a magnitude of several tens of millions of koruna a year’, said ČD Chairman Miroslav Kupec on September 12. ‘Thanks to the equipment installed in the Praha maintenance centre, where we take care of the largest number of coaches and locomotives in the Czech Republic, the time necessary for wheel maintenance will be reduced.’