End of February 2018 the recently completed ICE maintenance depot in Cologne-Nippes was opened with an official ceremony. This plant is the first climate-neutral maintenance plant in Europe. According to Deutsche Bahn it will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,000 tons and is operated without using any fossil fuel.
WINDHOFF Bahn- und Anlagentechnik GmbH convinced with different product solutions for the DB requirements at this new plant. Thus, the new ICE depot has been fitted with four 430-meter-long elevated rail tracks for the maintenance of the ICE fleet with 68 rail bridges, wheelset drops, a turntable bogie drop pit for the exchange of the bogies, a turntable and a traction cable installation for the external cleaning system (train wash facility) supplied by WINDHOFF.
In addition WINDHOFF supplied the emission-free, battery-electrically driven shunter TeleTrac RW60AEM-QF complete with transverse gear. It is used as a shunting vehicle for a subfloor turntable to ensure that the wheelsets are positioned with high precision. Hydraulically driven, lowerable running gear for road mode with heavy-duty wheels are positioned on the face of the 34-ton shunter so that the vehicle can be lifted and positioned laterally on a concrete slab in transverse direction to the rail tracks whenever necessary.
