RAIL.ONE at UIC HIGHSPEED in Amsterdam

Concrete sleepers and track systems for mainline and rapid-transit railways

Neumarkt, Germany, 19 February 2008 – As a first-time participant, RAIL.ONE GmbH will take part in UIC HIGHSPEED 2008, the 6th World Congress on High Speed Rail in Amsterdam, from 17 to 19 March 2008, and will present its product and service portfolio there.  At the focal point of the joint stand with the Dutch construction company Royal BAM N.V., RAIL.ONE will present the monolithic ballastless track system RHEDA 2000®. This track system has successfully proven itself in the construction and operation of major European high-speed rail lines: including the mainline connection between Amsterdam and Brussels (the new HSL ZUID line), and has been effectively employed in an extensive variety of models. These applications have also included special projects, with a range to include new construction and rehabilitation of railway tunnels, as well as the RHEDA CITY models for municipal urban and suburban passenger and tram lines. On the basis of its technological expertise and its leading market position as innovative provider of comprehensive system solutions and engineering services for railway infrastructure in Germany, the RAIL.ONE Group is currently expanding its international project commitment on a systematic basis.

Continued project successes in Spain
In Spain, RAIL.ONE, in collaboration with the Spanish construction company COMSA, has operated a production plant since 1994 in Constantí, near Barcelona, for the manufacture of prestressed-concrete sleepers. RAIL.ONE, with its home office in Neumarkt, Bavaria, was awarded a contract a few months ago for delivery of concrete sleepers for construction of the new Spanish rail line between Perpignan and Figueras. This line is part of a high-priority project in the Trans-European Transport Network, and will connect the Iberian peninsula with the rest of Europe. Completion of this line will connect Barcelona and vicinity to the French rail network, with standard European railway gauge.

In addition to production of 50,000 mono-block sleepers, 28,000 bi-block sleepers from the RHEDA 2000® system, as well as more than 28,000 linear metres of turnout sleepers, RAIL.ONE has also been contracted for performance of the necessary planning services for Spain. Production of the main-track sleepers will take place in Spanish plants in Constantí and Segovia, and the turnout sleepers will be supplied from the RAIL.ONE plant in Coswig, near Dresden. Delivery of the first sleepers began already in late 2007.

RHEDA CITY for The Hague – an urban-transit project with ballastless technology
In mass rapid transit as well, RAIL.ONE is entering new international markets. Beginning as early as 2006, the tram line Aaltje Noorderwierstraat in The Hague was outfitted with ballastless track technology developed by RAIL.ONE. The system variants RHEDA CITY and RHEDA CITY GREEN were installed on just over 2.6 km of tram line in The Hague, “The City of Peace and Justice.” RAIL.ONE individually tailored this line on the basis of monolithic ballastless track technology, to effectively satisfy the needs and requirements of mass rapid transit in The Hague. An additional 800 metres of RHEDA CITY track were installed as part of an upgrading project.

RAIL.ONE entry into the Polish market also succeeded in 2007. The RHEDA CITY system was installed on the Warsaw tram line Aleje Jerozolimskie for a distance of 5,000 metres. In addition to system delivery, RAIL.ONE also received a contract for engineering and quality supervision. As a European metropolis, Warsaw is being confronted by new challenges in the area of public transport. The city plans to meet the growth in rapid-transit demand by expanding its underground and surface commuter transit networks. RAIL.ONE confidently and positively considers this development in the sense of expectation of additional projects. Warsaw currently operates a total of 30 tram lines, with an overall length of 122 km, and with a daily volume of approx. 1.5 million passengers. 

In the RHEDA CITY system, bi-block concrete sleepers with non-prestressed reinforcement are concreted into a compact, insitu concrete slab. Grooved tramway rails are mounted on top. Track covering can take the form of asphalt, concrete, or paving blocks. With RHEDA CITY GREEN, the appealing “Green Track,” cover is provided by turf or sedum. This vegetated track surface dampens the level of emitted noise, and can store up to 80% of precipitation received.

These contracts once again confirm the advantages of RHEDA CITY technology, including international applications. The municipal governments of Nantes (France), Chur (Switzerland), Crodyon, England, and especially Bucharest (Romania) have been convinced of the beneficial characteristics of RHEDA CITY, in conjunction with its great cost effectiveness. In Bucharest, orders have by now gone out for 20 km of RHEDA CITY.

“RAIL.ONE means top performance”: all three managing directors of the company – Richard Ziegler, Hans Bachmann, and Gerhard Binner – stand behind this claim. “For our customers we want to be the initial contact partner for individual solutions and innovative technology for new construction and expansion of railway track systems.” Toward this objective, RAIL.ONE offers the latest in state-of-the-art technology: starting with the single prestressed concrete sleeper for ballasted tracks, and extending to complete ballastless track systems for lines with high speeds and heavy-haul traffic – and for special requirements involving track structural height and flexibility. Management and staff likewise promise top performance in after-sales service and product and services quality.

“We keep this promise in close collaboration with our customers and partners. Talks and contacts within the context of UIC HIGHSPEED will certainly provide important impetus,” explains Frank Scholz, who is currently in charge of pushing forward the company’s international projects. “In addition to classic delivery business, we at RAIL.ONE today offer engineering, production, supply, logistics, and quality management – all on a one-stop basis – which enables us to satisfy individual requirements and specific wishes.”

RAIL.ONE at UIC HIGHSPEED 2008:

17 - 19 March 2008, at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Center,
Europaplein in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hall 2, Stand 2-C044

We would be glad to welcome you at our fair stand for a personal exchange of information and opinion. 

About the PCM RAILONE Group

The PCM RAILONE Group has been manufacturing concrete sleepers and track systems for urban transit and long-distance rail transportation for over 60 years. The technology leader also offers its expertise in the fields of engineering and plant construction. Its customer-driven innovations fulfill the highest quality standards and are installed around the world

The PCM RAILONE Group is comprised of several companies and eleven production facilities with a presence in Germany, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Korea, Hungary, Turkey, the United States, Canada and lndia. lt maintains annual capacities of over 5 million track sleepers and 840,000 linear meters of turnout sleepers. RAILONE produces optimized products and custom solutions with over 550 employees around the world.