16.09.2025
Mobile Detection of Rail Damage using Ultrasound: Vossloh’s SoniQ Rail Explorer can now be used on DB rail network
DB InfraGO has approved the use of Vossloh‘s mobile ultrasonic testing trolley, the SoniQ Rail Explorer. This approval supplements the existing compliance verification issued by DB Systemtechnik and removes the last hurdle for the trolley‘s use on Deutsche Bahn’s rail network. Various other European and Asian railways have been using this modern ultrasonic inspection trolley successfully for three years now.
The SoniQ Rail Explorer was developed in close collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in Dresden. In just a single pass, the testing device reliably detects and localizes flaws in the rail’s interior, corrosion in the rail base and irregularities in weld seams. These capabilities make it particularly suited to pinpointing the exact location of previously detected flaws and for regular inspections of shorter track sections, switches, crossings, level crossings and station tracks. With the SoniQ Rail Explorer, Vossloh is setting new technological and ergonomic standards for mobile ultrasonic testing.
The inspection results show the condition of the rail in real time using various display options (called A and B scans) and can be combined with camera images. Data transmission back to the office is flexible and can be done using a USB, SD card or directly via LTE/WiFi, allowing the results to be seamlessly integrated into digitalized process chains.
Compact, flexible and ready to use in just a few minutes
With its compact dimensions and weighing only around 20 kilograms, the SoniQ Rail Explorer fits inside any station wagon and can be carried to the track by one person. Its main control element is a rugged tablet computer, which clearly displays all the inspection data. Nine ultrasonic test probes in the test wheel supply the raw data, which the unit continuously saves, and individual test probes can be activated or deactivated at any time in order to examine any specific flaw discovered. The trolley can operate in either direction, and it can also take optional camera images of the rail surface as it inspects the rail. The all-round maintenance service in Germany (Leipzig) guarantees short maintenance and inspection times, which provides planning security during normal operations.
"The SoniQ Rail Explorer takes rail maintenance to a new level“, says Marcel Taubert, Managing Director of Vossloh Rail Services. "It combines the latest inspection technology with simple, ergonomic operation – and all in a compact system that can be deployed anywhere. The SoniQ Rail Explorer is another example of the success we’ve achieved in aspiring to get practical digital solutions out onto the track.“
On the job with the SoniQ Rail Explorer (SRE)
September 16, 2025
Contact
Vossloh Rail Services GmbH
Anika Oda Amort, responsable marketing et communication
Téléphone : (+49) 40 430931390
E-mail :
anika.amort@vossloh.com
Vossloh is a global technology group which for around 140 years has stood for quality, safety, customer focus, reliability and innovative strength. With its comprehensive range of rail-related products and services, Vossloh ranks among the world market leaders in this sector. Vossloh offers a uniquely broad range of products and services under one roof: Rail fastening systems, concrete ties, 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 in use in more than 100 countries. With almost 80 Group companies in nearly 30 countries and over 40 production locations, Vossloh is active locally 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 organized into the three divisions Core Components, Customized Modules and Lifecycle Solutions. In the 2024 financial year, Vossloh generated sales revenues of €1,209.6 million with around 4,200 employees.