Railpool opens electric locomotive workshop for hinterland services

Christoph Engel, Managing Director of Railpool Lokservice GmbH & Co. KG, said: “We wanted a workshop of superlatives and we built it.” The wide range of services includes both operational maintenance work and overhauls. At the heart of the new site is the reprofiling facility. Up to seven locomotives can be worked on at the same time.. The track to the workshop hall is to be fully electric to become independent of diesel shunting locomotives. Funds have already been obtained from the "Companies for Resource Protection" scheme. The expanded workshop has created 40 new jobs, according to Railpool Lokservice, and the company is also training qualified junior staff.

During the opening ceremony in September, Anjes Tjarks, Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, said: “This new, state-of-the-art workshop in Billbrook will significantly expand capacities for the maintenance of electric locomotives and further strengthen Hamburg as a hub of rail freight transport." The workshop is a building block of the mobility transition amid efforts to put more hinterland traffic onto the rails and relieve traffic in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The project was facilitated through the the Hamburg Investment and Development Bank (IFB Hamburg)  “Hamburg Green Roof Funding” scheme. The new  4,000m²  buidling was constructed in an energy-efficient manner to maximize sustainability. The  building complex is connected to the urban district heating network and the entire roof has been greened. A photovoltaic system with an output of over 60kW will supply self-sufficient electricity on a seasonal basis. Charging points for the company’s own electric vehicles are also planned.
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