DMR Division - Rail
ZFGB A Centre of Excellence for Rail Drive Systems
ZFGB has been supplying rail drive systems for more than 40 years but it was the opening of the custom built 900m² facility in Nottingham in 2003 that illustrated our true commitment to the rail market. Since then, heavy investment in the parts inventory and test facilities means we can offer a service practically second to none to customers in the UK and Europe.
Supported customers & applications
Current UK rail applications featuring ZF drive systems include the Docklands Light Railway, Stagecoach SuperTram in Sheffield, Northern Spirit, Type Class 332 trains operated by Heathrow Express and Type 168 and 170 Turbostar trains.
ZF drive systems are also featured in the fleet of 58 Channel Tunnel Shuttle Locomotives operated by Eurotunnel and also various specialist on-track maintenance vehicles.
Services & facilities
The Rail Testing Facility
Operating as a ´Centre of Excellence´ for northern Europe, our rail workshop is managed by John Millward and staffed by a team of ZF factory-trained technicians. It features the latest tooling and diagnostic systems, including a dedicated test rig, and is capable of repairing and remanufacturing all types of ZF rail transmissions and drive systems.
Since it was opened, our rail workshop has become a major part of a ZF Rail Services operation that now supports many of the UK´s leading train operating companies, light rail and metro systems operators. We are also an engineering partner to the manufacturers and repairers of all types of vehicles for passenger, freight and maintenance applications.
The extensive range of services we offer includes technical support, repairs to ZF standard, fixed price repair schemes, scheduled inspections, preventative maintenance programmes and a ZF service exchange scheme.
Scheduled Inspections - preventative maintenance
A highly skilled ZF Technician
A particularly important service we offer is that of Scheduled Inspections. The transmission is removed from the vehicle and sent to ZFGB, where it is stripped and analysed in the rail workshop. Each transmission is cleaned and all parts are thoroughly inspected, whilst all the ´soft parts´ (seals, gaskets etc) are replaced as a matter of routine. If any parts are found to have worn, then they are replaced, if however there is no problem the transmission is rebuilt.
This has proved in some case to have doubled the length of the transmission service intervals (this is application and service interval dependant). A prime example of this is our work with Eurotunnel/Brush Traction.
Originally, based on predicted usage and expected wear levels, overhaul times were originally set at 500,000 kilometre intervals. However, by using these regular inspections, Eurotunnel has been able to extend overhaul periods to as much as 1,100,000 kilometres. This not only provides the customer with a significant operating cost saving, it also serves to highlight the quality and durability of the original equipment.
Maintenance Traceability
The rail industry is demanding not just in terms of its need for reliability but also in its need to maintain detailed repair and maintenance records. To this end, each item of repair and maintenance work is given a unique process number and is held on a central database for future analysis and to provide a true history of each transmission installation.
This enables us to monitor wear and damage indicators, and to be able to cross-reference between comparable applications on each transmission. By maintaining this information we can chart trends, and identify and rectify developing faults long before they cause costly downtime.
For more information please contact us.