International Railway Journal - July 2008 - (Page 55)

Train maintenance where space for a conventional underfloor lathe is limited, such as Stratford. A few are already in use in Europe, mostly on light rail systems, but Clyne and Tube Lines recognised that the technique was ideal for the heavy metro operation of the Jubilee Line. The machine was delivered in 2007, just three months after being ordered as it had already been built by Hegenscheidt. It made its first cuts in August that year, and quickly dispelled the speculation of some more traditional engineers used to fixed underfloor lathes that it wasn’t up to the job. Since then, under a service agreement with Hegenscheidt, it has been in use 24-hours a day at weekends. Some have questioned the performance of mobile lathes compared with fixed installations. Clyne says that while it is slower at reprofiling wheels, the fact that arc shields designed to limit the effects of arcing from the conductor rails do not have to be removed because of the Mobiturn’s close clamping arrangement means that overall there is little in it: a four-car train, with 16 axles, can be reprofiled in 12 to 16 hours. And Clyne pays tribute to its reliability too: “When the machine arrived, we plugged it in, and it worked - to use a cliché - straight out of the box: its reliability has been exceptional and I’ve been very impressed.” The success has been noted by the British main line track authority, Network Rail, which has ordered a pair of mobile wheel lathes though it is yet, IRJ understands, to commission them fully into service. Of course, given enough space, then an underfloor wheel lathe will usually be preferable, but the success of Mobiturn means that it is becoming increasingly possible for even small depots to have their own wheel reprofiling facility something Hegenscheidt is no doubt keen to encourage. This mobile lathe is having a profound impact on the Jubilee Line fleet already, with intervals between reprofiling now standing at 63 weeks, compared with three years on other London Underground lines. This should mean that track quality is maintained for longer (replacing track on underground metros can be and often is a lengthy and difficult process) while passengers get a smoother ride, and trains suffer fewer potentially damaging vibrations. On the face of it, a single wheel lathe might seem unlikely to transform service reliability for passengers, but Tube Lines’ Mobiturn at Stratford is doing just that, quietly, unassumingly, but The Mobiturn wheel lathe travels along the length of the train and grinds each axle in-situ. assuredly. IRJ IRJ July 2008 55

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of International Railway Journal - July 2008

International Railway Journal - July 2008 Contents This Month News Transit News Market News/Technology News News Analysis Conference Report Korean Railways Face a Bright Future Korean Exports Surge Ahead Ready to Roll in China Velaro Shows Eastern Promise Are You Sitting Comfortably? Compin Meets New Challenges The Fabric of Society Grinding Out a Result Rendezvous Full Contact List The Last Word

International Railway Journal - July 2008

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