An Estonian railway operator has renewed its maintenance contract with a Finnish company.

Elron will continue to have VR FleetCare look after the bogies and traction wheelsets on its 38 FLIRT – Fast Light Intercity and Regional Train – units at its component workshop in Pieksämäki, in Finland.

The Finnish company, which has set up optimised production lines for bogies and wheelset maintenance, won the three-year contract after an international tender.

Elron’s FLIRT trains, which are built by Stadler Rail of Switzerland, have been maintained by VR FleetCare for five years. Their component workshop was opened two years ago, with a major focus on the heavy maintenance of bogies and traction wheelsets, and it also handles bogies from other railway equipment.

The bogies of rail vehicles are crucial to operational safety but can be costly to maintain, accounting for around 20% of the life-cycle cost of railway rolling stock.

Mark Pakin, Elron’s Teachnical Manager, said: “We are happy to continue our co-operation with VR FleetCare for the Elron trains components service. Earlier experience has shown that we can be confident in VR FleetCare as trustable partner.

Wilhelm Schevelew, Head of Sales at VR FleetCare, added: “We are truly pleased with the continuation of the agreement and the employment impact it has for us. The maintenance agreement for Elron’s bogies and traction wheelsets is strategically important for us. Two years ago, we opened a new component workshop specialized in the maintenance of bogies and other components. Elron’s decision to continue working with us reflects their strong confidence in our expertise and cost efficiency in component service.

Juha Lintula, Head of Component Services at VR FelletCare, said: “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. Our skilled workforce has taken concrete steps to enhance the efficiency and productivity of our production lines, enabling us to offer internationally competitive component maintenance services to our clients.

“We possess expertise in maintaining components from several manufacturers’ rolling stock. Now, the combination of our expertise in the maintenance of Flirt trains and Vectron components in locomotives and the European-wide market potential looks good. Expanding our capabilities to other types of rolling stock with this experience and expertise is also interesting to us”, adds Lintula.