Matthias Manhart, Head Rhomberg Sersa Technology – Sersa Maschineller Gleisbau AG

Euroswitch: the complete prefab Switches developed for SBB

“Just in time delivery of switches from the manufacturing place to the worksite” – this is real since more than 10 years on the network of Swiss Railway. The project was the result of a partnership between Swiss Railway and Sersa AG (Switzerland). The company EuroSwitch was formed to deliver the switches just in time to the worksites.

Hägendorf is the place, where the switches are built together. The units are completely tested before they leave Hägendorf. This makes sure, that the risk for failure after the renewal of the switch is reduced significantly. The transport is done with special turnout transport wagons (WTM) manufactured by Matisa SA (Crissier, Switzerland) just in time to the worksites. The planning optimizes the usage of the fleet of transport wagons. Dedicated teams with rail cranes and special excavation machines on the worksites remove the old switch and install the new one. The renewals can be adapted to the needs of the network – short or long possessions, complete blockage or adjacent line open. The old switch is travelling back to Hägendorf on the same transport wagons for recycling.

Swiss Railway operates a database with geographical information’s and absolute track design in millimetre precision. These data are important for the complete process to guarantee the best quality of the end result.