GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation inaugurated a new Bogie Technical Centre at its Siegen site on July 10. Bringing together the specialist engineers and tools needed for the development, testing and certification of Bombardier’s bogie portfolio, the technical centre is located alongside the company’s bogie headquarters and final assembly, wheelset and repair and overhaul facilities.
The BTC was formally opened by Guntram Schneider, Minister of Work for the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bart Vantorre, head of Bombardier’s Bogies Business Unit and Dave Barry, Vice-President and Board Member for Project Management. Developed over four years at a total investment of €10m, the centre is intended to bring a significant leap forward in bogie development.
Around 150 people will work in the new centre, alongside the plant where Bombardier manufactures around 5 000 bogies a year. A formal collaboration has been established with the technical universities of Aachen and Siegen, Chalmers in Göteborg and Valenciennes. Staff will be seconded from Bombardier plants in France, the UK and India, and an exchange agreement is being discussed with aeronautical experts in Belfast over the use of advanced materials.
‘This test and validation centre allows us to respond to increasingly complex certification and homologation processes’, said Vantorre. ‘In addition, the centre will be at the heart of a network with the academic world and suppliers, creating synergies and joint research to fulfil our customers' needs.’
