ProRail is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure, the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part of NS Railinfratrust, the Dutch railway infrastructure owner.
A railway track or railroad track, also known as a train track or permanent way, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll upon. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers; since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel.
The International Union of Railways is an international rail transport industry body.
Maintenance of way refers to the maintenance, construction, and improvement of rail infrastructure, including tracks, ballast, grade, and lineside infrastructure such as signals and signs.
The CargoSprinter is a freight multiple unit designed to transport freight or equipment. The CargoSprinter was designed by Windhoff GmbH (Germany) in the mid-1990s.
Vossloh AG is a rail technology company based in Werdohl in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The SDAX-listed group has achieved sales of around €930 million in 2016 and, as of 2017, had more than 4,000 employees.
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. is the Polish railway infrastructure manager, responsible for maintenance of rail tracks, conducting the trains across the country, scheduling train timetables, and management of railway land.
A tamping machine or ballast tamper, informally simply a tamper, is a self-propelled, rail-mounted machine used to pack the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks and roadbed more durable and level. Prior to the introduction of mechanical tampers, this task was done by manual labour with the help of beaters. As well as being faster, more accurate, more efficient and less labour-intensive, tamping machines are essential for the use of concrete sleepers since they are too heavy to be lifted by hand.
Infrabel is a Belgian government-owned public limited company. It builds, owns, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, makes its capacity available to railway operator companies, and handles train traffic control.
A work train is one or more rail cars intended for internal non-revenue use by the railroad's operator. Work trains serve functions such as track maintenance, maintenance of way, revenue collection, system cleanup and waste removal, heavy duty hauling, and crew member transport.
Windhoff is a German manufacturer of specialised railways rolling stock, and heavy industrial plant. The company was founded in 1889.
Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) is an Austrian rail freight transportation company with its headquarters in Vienna. It was founded on 1 January 2005 as an independent company from the freight transport division of the ÖBB Group.
Sersa Group is a Swiss railway construction and maintenance company.
SBB Cargo International is a rail transport business founded in 2010 as a joint venture between SBB Cargo and Hupac. It was created to engage in the carriage of international rail freight across the European market.
Hupac is a railway company in Switzerland. It primarily provides international intermodal freight shipment, but has also engaged in rolling stock procurement and leasing activities.
A stoneblower is a railway track maintenance machine that automatically lifts and packs the sleepers with small grade ballast, which is blown under the sleepers to level the track. An alternative to the use of a ballast tamper, the totally self-contained machine levels track without the use of a large gang of workmen.
A track renewal train is a work train that consists of many units of machinery and materials required for track renewal projects.
Departmental locomotives on the London Underground consist of vehicles of a number of types which are used for engineering purposes. These include battery locomotives, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives, sleet locomotives, pilot motor cars and ballast motor cars. Details of the first four types are covered elsewhere. Pilot motor cars and ballast motor cars are generally vehicles which have been withdrawn from passenger service, but continue to be used by the engineering department. Pilot motor cars are used to move other vehicles around the system, while ballast motor cars are used to haul ballast trains and engineering trains.
Matisa Matériel Industriel S.A. is a Swiss company that manufactures rail maintenance machines and provides associated services. It was founded in 1945 and is based in the canton of Vaud.
A catenary maintenance vehicle is a railroad maintenance of way vehicle that is used to maintain and inspect overhead line on electrified railroad or metro tracks. Such vehicles are typically self-propelled by a diesel engine, to allow them to operate when power is shut off to the overhead lines for worker safety or in the event of a power failure. Catenary maintenance vehicles allow maintenance of way workers to safely work on overhead wires and typically include a crane to install or remove wires as needed.
