Estonian railway company Elron has extended its maintenance contract with VR FleetCare for the bogies of its Flirt trains. This renewal comes after an international tender process. The three-year agreement encompasses periodic maintenance for 38 Flirt trains, including their bogies and traction wheelsets. VR FleetCare will conduct the bogie maintenance at its component workshop in Pieksämäki (Finland), where optimized production lines for bogie and wheelset maintenance have been established.
Bogies are a critical component of rail vehicles in terms of costs and operational safety, accounting for approximately one-fifth of the life-cycle costs of train rolling stock.
"At VR FleetCare, we have extensive expertise in various types of rail vehicle bogies and other components. We provide maintenance for bogies of freight wagons, electric and diesel locomotives, electric trains, and passenger coaches under one roof,” said Juha Lintula, Head of Component Services at VR FleetCare.
VR FleetCare has maintained the bogies of Elron's Flirt trains for five years, and this agreement ensures the continuation of this successful partnership. The component workshop, opened two years ago, specializes in the heavy maintenance of bogies and traction wheelsets while also handling bogies from other railway equipment.
Finland's rolling stock includes a significant number of Flirt trains manufactured by Stadler and Siemens Vectron locomotives, which are also widely used in other European countries. Consequently, the bogies and components of these trains are of particular interest to VR FleetCare, and they aim to expand their capabilities to other types of rolling stock with their experience and expertise in component maintenance.
