For RAIL.ONE GmbH, formerly Pfleiderer track systems, their presence at the InnoTrans 2006, the international trade fair for traffic engineering to be held in Berlin from 19 to 22 September 2006, will be dominated by an ongoing dialog with their national and international customers and business partners.
After the Pfleiderer Group was sold to AXA Private Equity in April of this year, the leading manufacturer of concrete sleepers and comprehensively orientated system and engineering provider for railway track systems now focuses entirely on the rail infrastructure technology market and presents itself with a new name and fresh self-assurance to the trade and sector public.
“RAIL.ONE means top performance,” say Richard Ziegler, Hans Bachmann and Gerhard Binner, the three Managing Directors of the company, in full agreement. We want to be the first contact partner for our customers regarding individual tailored solutions and innovative technology for replacement or upgrading of railtrack systems .”
To accomplish such tasks, RAIL.ONE offers the best state-of-the-art technology, from the single prestressed-concrete sleeper for the ballasted track up to the complete ballastless track system for line sections with high speeds and high burdens or special requirements with regard to track structural height and flexibility. The management and employees of RAIL.ONE also promise top performance for customer service as well as product and service quality.
We fulfill this commitment in close cooperation with our customers and partners. “Conversations and contacts made at the InnoTrans provide important stimulation to this end,” says Hans Bachmann, who is currently engaged in especially promoting the international projects in China, Korea and India. “Aside from the classical supply business, we at RAIL.ONE also now offer engineering, production, supply, logistics and quality management from one source, and are thus able to comply with the most individual and specific requests.”
Ballastless track RHEDA 2000® for 980 km high-speed rail lines in China
In January 2006, RAIL.ONE signed a contract with the Chinese Railway Ministry for the deployment of their ballastless track system type RHEDA 2000® in the People’s Republic of China. The agreement on the one hand grants China the usufructuary rights for the technology and on the other hand designates RAIL.ONE and its partners in a consortium of European companies (Eichholz, Heitkamp, Royal BAM Group) to play a major role in supporting the planning and construction of the double-track PDL (Passenger Dedicated Line) from Wuhan to Guangzhou in Southeast China. The entire line, spanning about 980 kilometers, should go into operation in 2010 and be executed in RHEDA 2000®.
Dynamic growth perspectives in Germany, Europe and the world
RAIL.ONE currently employs a workforce of approximately 770 and delivers concrete main-track and turnout sleepers from five sites in Germany (Neumarkt, Coswig, Langen, Karlsruhe, Kirchmöser) as well as three other European countries (Spain, Hungary, Romania. The sales volume amounted to 146 million euros in the business year 2005.
The management and employees of RAIL.ONE have set ambitious goals for the future. “We want to continue the dynamic corporate development and double our sales in the coming 3 years,” claims Richard Ziegler, who runs the company along with his colleagues Hans Bachmann and Gerhard Binner, and acts as speaker for the general management. “Parallel to strengthening our domestic market position, we also see attractive growth potential in other parts of Europe as well as especially in the rising economies of Asia.”
In Europe, RAIL.ONE was able to expand its market presence in the past several months by new contracts and projects in Spain and the Netherlands.
New mobile production plant near Madrid for bi-block sleepers
Since as early as 1994, RAIL.ONE - with its partner company, the Spanish construction company COMSA - has operated a plant in Spain for production of prestressed-concrete sleepers in Constanti, near Barcelona.
RAIL.ONE, with headquarters in Neumarkt, Germany, won a contract a few months ago for delivery of approx. 100,000 bi-block sleepers from its patented RHEDA 2000® ballastless track system. The components will be installed by November of 2006 for new construction of 28 km of double-track line in the Guadarrama Tunnel, on the mainline connection between Madrid and Valladolid. Especially dedicated for production of these bi-block sleepers, a mobile production plant has been built by RAIL.ONE in Segovia, near Madrid.
RAIL.ONE has already successfully completed delivery of more than 7,000 polyvalent bi-block and transition sleepers, including fastening units and spindles, for a 2-km double-track tunnel on the line between La Coruña and Santiago, as part of the Eje Atlantico project.
RAIL.ONE has in the meantime secured a further contract for initial sleeper deliveries for an additional 7.8‑km section of this line. Eje Atlantico designates a complex of ballastless-track projects on the Iberian peninsula, with an estimated total length of 15 to 20 km. The projects are planned for implementation during 2006 and 2007.
RAIL.ONE furthermore has its eye on further projects for mainline railway infrastructure in Spain - which the Spanish government plans to upgrade by investments of over 120 billion euros during the next 15 years. RAIL.ONE plans, however, are not limited to mainline projects.
RHEDA CITY for The Hague - urban rapid transit project with ballastless tracks
The company is entering new markets on the international scene for urban mass rapid transit as well. In the summer months of August and September 2006, work will begin on new construction of the "Aaltje Noorderwierstraat" tram line in The Hague, with ballastless-track technology à la RAIL.ONE. The system models RHEDA CITY and RHEDA CITY GREEN will be installed over no less than 2.6 km of tram line, in the "City of Peace and Justice," on the basis of the monolithic ballastless track technology: tailor-made for the needs and requirements of mass rapid transit.
With the RHEDA CITY system, non-prestressed-reinforcement bi-block concrete sleepers are concreted into a monolithic in-situ concrete slab, onto which the grooved tramway rails are mounted. The top layer can be executed with asphalt, concrete, or paving blocks. For RHEDA CITY GREEN, the appealing "green track," cover is provided by turf or sedum. In this configuration, the vegetated track zones attenuate the noise level, and can store up to 80% of incident precipitation.
For this track project in The Hague, RAIL.ONE will be responsible for system supervision, quality assurance, as well as surveying services, as well as for delivery of approx. 2,800 bi-block sleepers. This order, in addition to underground railway lines executed in Madrid and Singapore, represents a further international mass rapid transit project in which ballastless track technology from RAIL.ONE will be applied.
For these projects, RAIL.ONE can effectively draw on its highly diversified and successful experience gained with RHEDA CITY and RHEDA CITY GREEN in projects completed in Berlin, Dresden, Hanover, Cologne, and Karlsruhe. More than 60 km of these system variations are already in operation for municipal mass rapid transit networks.
RAIL.ONE at the InnoTrans 2006:
19. – 22. September 2006, Messe Berlin (Berlin Fairgrounds)
Hall 26, Booth 215
Come visit us at our booth and enjoy a personal exchange of information and opinion.