photo: https://www.clusterforlogistics.lu/blog/detail/2016/11/vtg-digitalizes-its-entire-european-wagon-fleet/VTG wagon
VTG's fleets in Germany and Switzerland were converted to new composite brake shoes. Silent brake shoes are on 30,000 wagons. It was an investment in the amount of millions of euros.
Thanks to this, the whistling of braking trains is a thing of the past. The several-year process of changing the brake shoes was completed in time so it enables the transition to the new timetable. The deadline was set for 13.12.2020. This term was related to the new German law on railway noise prevention. However, the enforcement of sanctions for violations of the law was postponed to a new date, December 17, 2021, among other things due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Migrating to quiet brake blocks was a huge challenge in both financial and organizational terms," says Sven Wellbrock, Chief Operating Officer Europe and Chief Safety Officer at VTG AG. “We are deeply grateful to our customers, without whose flexibility we could never have got this major job done. Together, we have made a crucial contribution to fostering greater acceptance of rail transportation in the population at large,” said Sven Wellbrock, Chief Operating Officer for Europe and Chief Safety Officer at VTG AG.
This process is an absolutely key breakthrough in reducing noise emissions in rail transport. As a result, people living near the railway line will have a much calmer life.
"For the industry as a whole, migrating all rolling stock to quiet brake blocks is an important step toward future-proof rail freight," says Dr. Heiko Fischer, Chief Executive Officer of VTG AG. “Rail is critical to greater sustainability and fewer CO2 emissions in the transportation sector. But we must all pull together in the same direction. As a company, we do this by continually investing in technological innovation and ground-breaking digitalization strategies. On top of these efforts, however, rail also needs political and administrative support. This medium can only put its strengths to good use if the right legal and regulatory conditions are in place - in every country and at the European level,” said CEO of VTG AG, Dr. Heiko Fischer.
VTG finished a lot of work. VTG fleets offer their customers quiet operation on the railways. The cars are modernized and meet current requirements. VTG also deals with other modernization processes. For example, the DAC4EU (Digital Automatic Coupling for Europe) project.