Bombardier opens new test centre at Bautzen

Bombardier Transportation has opened a new €16 million test centre at its Bautzen factory in Germany.

Able to test three trains up to 120 metres long simultaneously, the new test facility is also used to test individual cars before the train is finally assembled, speeding up the process and increasing capacity to 600 cars a year.

A team of 50 people, working three shifts, can carry out a range of digital tests on newly produced trains and individual coaches. The facility includes a system for testing that vehicles are waterproof, which automatically adapts to the shape of the carbody, and a corner load measurement with a combined four-axle wheel load scale.

There is also a test track on site for short runs and a separate customer acceptance hall.

Building the new 6,590 square-metre test facility took around 3,500 cubic metres of concrete and 650 tons of steel.  50 kilometres of electrical wiring was installed, along with more than 900 lamps.

Michael Fohrer, chairman of the German management board of Bombardier Transportation, said at the opening ceremony: “With the digital final assembly hall opened last year and the test centre presented today, our site here in Bautzen is now equipped for the future with the latest modern innovative production and testing technologies.

“The site has a solid workload and is taking on a pioneering role at Bombardier Transportation as a competence centre for the serial production of regional and long-distance trains as well as trams and metros.”

Opening the new test centre is part of a €30 million investment to upgrade the Bautzen site. This also included a new production hall and a test centre.

Bombardier employs around 1,100 people in Bautzen, which is in Saxony, 135km east of Dresden and only 25km from the Czech and 50km for the Polish borders.