Points operating equipment is used to safely change the lie of railway turnouts to allow trains to change tracks. Traditionally, points operating equipment has been housed in the spaces between railway sleepers. This hinders the use of high production rail tamping machines and results in long-term maintenance and reliability problems.
Siemens Australia has developed a solution to overcome the shortcomings of conventional point operating technology. Called the OneTrough Point Operating System, it integrates all points equipment in one hollow sleeper. The trough is installed in place of a sleeper and provides secure housing for the equipment. This enables the use of high production tamping machines through the turnout area.
Siemens Engineering Manager, Dwayne Allan, said the point operating technology was designed specifically to suit the needs of the Australian railway market.
“Originally we imported all the equipment from Germany but the new local design and manufacture is far more cost effective for customers. We call the new operating system OneTrough because all the equipment can be housed in one trough sleeper,” Mr Allan said.
“Customer response to our new OneTrough offering has been excellent, with additional orders received just on the basis of the prototype,” he said.
The first order for the new equipment was recently installed for QR (Queensland Rail) at the Dalrymple Bay coal terminal, the primary coal port for QR’s Goonyella coal system south of Mackay.
The OneTrough Point Operating System is manufactured in Australia, which delivers cost savings to customers.
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