Totally digital and paperless: The depot for the 84 multiple units of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express in Dortmund is something of the latest craze in the maintenance and repair of rail vehicles.
Image: Picture Alliance/dpa
Will the train finally be more punctual? Malfunctions annoy operators and rail customers. Artificial intelligence should recognize breakdowns before they occur. This is no longer a utopia. But the way is long.
Ein a shiny silver building complex in the north of Dortmund, high as a trade fair hall, wide as a soccer field, but one and a half times as long. Futuristic in appearance: the Siemens Rail Service Center. Here, the Mobility division keeps the 84 Desiro HC multiple units it built for the Rhein-Ruhr-Express (RRX) on behalf of the Rhein-Ruhr transport association, ready for daily use on rails.
A lighthouse project: “It is our first fully digital depot worldwide,” says Johannes Emmelheinz, who is responsible for Customer Services at Siemens Mobility. Completely digital also means paperless. The computer does not rule in the six-track hall, but it is a constantly present, well-informed companion for the workshop employees. Your work orders, the locations of the respective tasks on the elevated trains from the wheels to the pantographs, the spare parts, the detailed work instructions – all this is listed on the personal tablet. And it also knows which tools are needed. After a corresponding click, a long row of green drawers opens, as if by magic, containing the required work tool. Digital tool management makes it possible.
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