Compendium Railway Vehicle Maintenance

This compendium describes the technologies, methods, processes and systems of modern maintenance of railway vehicles. Ever since the beginning of the railway era, the maintenance of railway vehicles has been an indispensable function for a safe and economically efficient railway system. The vehicle design as well as the workshop equipment and qualifications of the staff have to be geared towards this objective. Modern railway vehicles are technically highly complex mechatronic systems that combine mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electric and electronic components. With the hardware and software of vehicle control systems, the automatic train protection system ETCS and many other components, cutting-edge technology has arrived on the market and must be mastered by maintenance companies. This has also fundamentally changed the technical requirements of maintenance. In addition, rapid developments in market conditions have resulted in reforms of the legal principles for the integration of maintenance providers and their various functions into the whole railway system and its organisation. This compendium contributes to highlighting these changes. It is primarily aimed at experts working in railway vehicle maintenance, who want to refresh or consolidate their knowledge about the subject, and at students of railway and railway vehicle engineering.