15.12.2022

Vossloh succeeds in flagship project for data-based switch monitoring in Sweden

  • Important milestone achieved in Trafikverket’s trend-setting multi-year contract for data-based monitoring of 1,000 switches
  • Vossloh’s highly innovative solution fully meets the contractually defined set of requirements
  • Digital expertise in combination with sound understanding of rail track physics as key success factor

Vossloh achieves substantial progress on the trend-setting order for data-based condition monitoring of switches in Sweden. The multi-year order which was awarded by Trafikverket two years ago covers a total of 1,000 switches in the Swedish network. The aim is to avoid unplanned downtime due to switch malfunctions, increase efficiency of maintenance work and thus significantly boost track availability.

The solution basically monitors the displacement of switches via the movement of the bearer combined with speed measurement as well as a train recognition algorithm. Vossloh has now successfully completed validation of the performance of the sensors, gateways, cloud applications and algorithms. The validation was performed using data of over 4000 train passes to test the reliability of the solution and the accuracy of the algorithms under real conditions. This marks an important technological milestone and is a crucial step to enable Trafikverket in permanently monitoring their railway switches and to avoid unanticipated shutdowns.

“This great achievement is a further major step towards predictive maintenance and maximized track availability which is a key prerequisite for shifting more traffic to rail”, says Oliver Schuster, CEO of Vossloh AG, adding: “The great progress we have made in the project is based on our unique understanding of the rail track as an entire system combined with our steadily growing digital expertise. This will enable us to add further increased value to our customers.”

Pierre-Henri Bougeant, Head of Digitalization of Vossloh AG, says “This tremendous achievement by our engineering team demonstrates our extensive railway expertise combined with our digital skills and our transparency mindset with our customer.” He adds “We will now focus on the operational phase to roll out our highly reliable solution. In parallel, we will work to continuously add further functionality to the application in order to support Trafikverket in the best possible way.”

The development phase of the project was successfully carried out jointly with DB Systemtechnik GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG, and a range of partners including Sensorfy. The rollout will start in January 2023.

Werdohl, December 15, 2022

Contact information for the media:
Andreas Friedemann (Kirchhoff Consult AG)
Phone: +49 (0) 2392 52-608
Email: presse@vossloh.com

Contact information for investors:
Dr. Daniel Gavranovic
Phone: +49 (0) 2392 52-609
Email: investor.relations@vossloh.com

Vossloh is a global technology group that has stood for quality, safety, customer orientation, reliability and innovative strength for over 135 years. With its comprehensive range of rail-related products and services, Vossloh is one of the world market leaders in this sector. Vossloh offers a uniquely broad range of products and services under one roof: Rail fastening systems, concrete sleepers, switch systems and crossings as well as innovative and increasingly digital-based services for the entire life cycle of rails and switches. Vossloh uses its systemic understanding of the track to address the central customer need of "availability of the rail track".
Vossloh products and services are used in more than 100 countries. With some 80 group companies in around 30 countries and over 35 production locations, Vossloh is active on the ground worldwide. Vossloh is committed to sustainable corporate governance and climate protection and with its products and services makes an important contribution to the sustainable mobility of people and goods.
The Group's activities are divided into three divisions: Core Components, Customized Modules and Lifecycle Solutions. In fiscal 2021, Vossloh generated sales of €942.8 million with around 3,600 employees.