RAIL.ONE — High-tech from Germany for railway transport around the world

RAIL.ONE GmbH - for the first time under its new name, and for the first time as an independent company

RAIL.ONE GmbH, known until now as Pfleiderer track systems, and having been acquired by AXA Private Equity from the Pfleiderer Group, will now – for the first time under its new name, and for the first time as an independent company – present its products and services to its customers and to trade visitors at the 24th International Exhibition of Permanent-Way Technology (iaf), in Münster, Germany.

As internationally successful manufacturer of concrete sleepers, and comprehensively oriented provider of systems and engineering for railway track systems, RAIL.ONE sees its name not only as representing a corporate objective, but also as an image of the services it provides. RAIL.ONE intends to be the first contact partner for its customers and business partners, for customized solutions and innovative technology in new construction and expansion of railtrack systems: for the international mainline and urban-transit transport carried out by the major national railway companies, as well as for underground, commuter, and tram facilities in municipal mass rapid transit. With the patented ballastless track technology in its RHEDA 2000® models, the company has achieved an internationally leading position in the areas of high-speed rail infrastructure. All services for product development, manufacture, and application – starting with engineering; including production, supply, and logistics; and extending to quality management – are provided on a one-stop-provider basis.

With its currently 770 staff, RAIL.ONE supplies concrete sleepers for main tracks and for turnouts from five production plant locations in Germany (in Neumarkt, Coswig, Langen, Karlsruhe, and Kirchmöser), and in three foreign European countries (Spain, Hungary, and Romania). During its 2005 fiscal year, sales volume reached 146 million euros.

The management and staff of RAIL.ONE have set ambitious goals for the future. “We want to continue our dynamic corporate development, and we intend to double our sales during the upcoming three years,” said Richard Ziegler – who, as CEO for company management, directs the company with his colleagues Hans Bachmann and Gerhard Binner. “Parallel to strengthening our domestic market position, we see attractive growth potentials in foreign European countries, and especially in the emerging economies of Asia.”

RAIL.ONE will deliver approx. 680,000 Type B 70 concrete sleepers for upgrading and expanding the rail line from Ankara to Istanbul, as part of a contract soon to be signed. In addition, RAIL.ONE recently won an order for equipping two tunnel projects in Spain with the RHEDA 2000® ballastless track system. In Segovia, near the capital city of Madrid, a mobile production plant has been set up for the production of over 100,000 bi-block sleepers.

 

Ballastless track technology for high-speed international track projects

In addition to the successful application of RAIL.ONE ballastless track technology for high-speed rail projects to date – e.g., in Germany (from Cologne to the Rhine-Main airport complex, Nuremberg to Ingolstadt), the Netherlands (the high-speed HSL-ZUID line from Amsterdam to Rotterdam), and in Taiwan (the TSHR line from Taipei to Kaohsiung) – this technology can now prove its suitability for all three internationally leading train systems: the ICE, the TGV, and the Shinkansen.

“In past years, ballastless track has developed from a niche project – for example, for tunnels, bridges, turnouts, and applications near train stations – to standard technology for mainline tracks with high-speed and heavy-load applications,” said Hans Bachmann, who is especially behind the current contacts and projects in Asia.

RAIL.ONE has entered into a significant joint venture with the largest Indian rail-sleeper manufacturer, PATIL. In addition, the Chinese markets especially promise enormous development potentials: for this reason, the very recently executed cooperation agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Railways represents an essential milestone for market success in the Kingdom of the Middle. For this project, RAIL.ONE will assume prime contractorship within a European group of companies – which consists of the Dutch Royal BAM Group, as well as Eichholz and Heitkamp. The agreement initially regulates long-term technology transfer, as well as the training of specialist Chinese staff. Secondly, it provides for participation of the corporate group in planning and construction of the double-track line from Wuhan to Guangzhou in southeast China. This high-speed rail line, with a total of 989 km, will primarily consist of RHEDA 2000® track. This project represents by far the largest ballastless railtrack project to be executed in China with foreign participation.

Innovative technology for individual expectations in urban MRT applications

In addition to international success in high-speed applications, ballastless track has in past years also become successfully established in modified system models for urban and municipal mass rapid transit.

With its models RHEDA CITY, RHEDA MRT, as well as the “green tracks” RHEDA CITY GREEN and ATD-G, RAIL.ONE offers four system options that are individually matched to the specific needs and requirements encountered in urban mass rapid transit. To be sure: our everyday coexistence involving people, rail transportation, and road traffic – very often close together – frequently places special requirements on technologically intelligent and ecologically sensitive solutions.

About the PCM RAILONE Group

The PCM RAILONE Group has been manufacturing concrete sleepers and track systems for urban transit and long-distance rail transportation for over 60 years. The technology leader also offers its expertise in the fields of engineering and plant construction. Its customer-driven innovations fulfill the highest quality standards and are installed around the world

The PCM RAILONE Group is comprised of several companies and eleven production facilities with a presence in Germany, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Korea, Hungary, Turkey, the United States, Canada and lndia. lt maintains annual capacities of over 5 million track sleepers and 840,000 linear meters of turnout sleepers. RAILONE produces optimized products and custom solutions with over 550 employees around the world.

<