UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has confirmed an order worth around €50m for eight Robel self-propelled Mobile Maintenance System 69.70/4 trainsets.
Developed from a concept devised by Austrian Federal Railways and also supplied to Norway, Germany and the Netherlands, the MMS is designed to provide a safe and well-lit environment for on-track staff, protecting them from passing trains and the weather.
Each set will comprise three vehicles. The open-bottomed 69.60/4-UK Mobile Maintenance Unit will be equipped with track maintenance tools fed by electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic power from the separate Traction & Supply Unit. It will have hydraulically-adjusted walls which can be extended sideways by up to 600 mm to provide more workspace, and the cover will offer protection from the weather and act as a glare shield at night. The cab will be equipped with CCTV and be suitable for operation in either direction.
The 69.45/4-UK Intermediate Wagon for transporting materials and equipment will have a capacity of 38 m3 or 20 tonnes and be fitted with a 2 tonne crane, while the 69.40/4-UK Traction & Supply Unit will contain a maintenance and repair workshop along with staff kitchen and welfare facilities.
Deliveries from Robel's factory at Freilassing in Germany are scheduled to run between July 2015 and August 2016, with commissioning to be supported by Robel representative Plasser UK. The units are to be deployed on five of Network Rail's routes including London North Eastern, Anglia and Kent.
