A year and a half ago, Rail Cargo Hungaria commissioned TS Hungaria to develop a suitable solution for the transport of wheelsets that would be competitive with road transport. One of the strategic goals of Rail Cargo Group is to shift the transport of wheelsets in large volumes by road to rail.
To tackle this challenge, the experts of Rail Cargo Hungaria, TS-HU in Miskolc and ÖBB-TS in Knittelfeld have set up a working group to develop a transport system, enabling the transport of wheelsets in one row. Thanks to this system, 21 wheelsets can be transported by a rail wagon, compared with 15 wheelsets carried by a lorry. The system developed was mounted on an Rgs wagon. The solution met the collision and other railway safety requirements.
However, experience from the test runs showed that the cost of road transport was still slightly lower than the transport by rail, therefore the designs were refined. The design team of TS-HU developed a mobile two-row trolley system capable of carrying 30 wheelsets per wagon. A prototype has been produced and is currently in test operation.
The turnaround time of the wagon equipped with the two-row trolley system is about ten days between Miskolc and Knittelfeld. On the way back, it will be loaded with wheelsets to be repaired and returned to the plant of TS-HU.
The rail vehicle repair facility in Miskolc is planning to build five more similar trolley systems. These will allow 100 wheelsets to be transported by rail each week and will reduce road traffic on this route by a total of 320 trucks per year.