After having successfully won a tender in December 2020, ŽOS Trnava was awarded an approximately 16-million-euro contract by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) for the production of 90 new Faccns four-axle self-unloading wagons. ŽOS Trnava has now formally handed over the wagons to the Austrian company at InnoTrans, an international trade fair for transport technology held in Berlin.
These Faccns four-axle freight wagons are self-unloading hopper wagons appropriate for the maintenance and repair of railway tracks used to transport bulk goods, like macadam, that are not sensitive to moisture. Self-unloading wagons use gravity for controlled emptying. Four rotary discharge chutes, two on each side of the wagon, can easily unload freight both between railway tracks and beside them.
Hydraulic levers control the entire unloading, with propulsion from the wheelset pump generating the required pressure. The advantage of the system is that it requires no external power source, operators can unload with less effort, and the control panels are accessible from the platform.
“The hydraulic system has significantly reduced what operators need to do and the roof above the access platform protects railway staff from the weather,” explained Johann Pluy, a director on ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG’s executive board.
“It was hardly easy to develop and approve a new type of wagon that could meet the exacting requirements of such an important client as ÖBB, and the project itself started only in 2022 during a rather challenging period marked by major uncertainties. Nonetheless, the project was managed successfully and we believe that ÖBB will find the wagons ŽOS Trnava has produced reliable for their railway network.” added Miloš Kyselica, ŽOS Trnava’s General Director.
