Transmissions from Voith Turbo are renowned for their robustness and long service life. But higher mileages still require regular maintenance and, after a certain time, a major overhaul of the transmission. Voith Turbo supplies original spare parts for this purpose. Alstom Transport UK is making use of this service: over the next few years, a total of 636 final drives are undergoing a major overhaul.
The final drives in question are of the type KE-459. Each of these transmissions will have completed a mileage of some 1.25 million kilometres at the time of the first major overhaul.
The operator, Virgin West Coast Trains Ltd, uses the final drives mostly in Class 390 Pendolino trains that run primarily between London and Glasgow or Edinburgh. Since 2004, the company has been putting a total of 53 of these nine-car Fiat Ferroviaria/Alstom tilting trains in service. The trains are capable of maximum speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour.
Alstom Transport UK has just signed a service support agreement with Voith Turbo that runs until 2012. During this period, the KE-459 final drives will undergo a major overhaul at the Alstom Depot in Wolverton / Milton Keynes after a mileage of 1.25 million kilometers, followed by the second major overhaul due after 2.5 million kilometers. Alongside the major overhaul of the drives, the service contract also covers the training and the technical support of the Alstom UK employees. Additionally, Voith Turbo will supply special tools and a Voith final drive test stand.
Voith Turbo, the specialist for hydrodynamic drive, coupling and braking systems for road, rail and industrial applications, as well as for ship propulsion systems, is a group division of Voith AG.
Voith sets standards for papermaking technology, power transmission, energy technology and industrial services. Voith was founded on January 1st, 1867. With approximately 30,000 employees at over 200 locations worldwide and annual sales of € 3.5 billion , Voith is one of the largest family-owned companies in Europe. Voith is an official partner of the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas.”