Bombardier Transportation held the second Flexx Bogie Operator Forum at its global Center of Excellence for Bogies in Siegen, Germany. More than 40 customers from 11 countries attended this interactive technical seminar.

During the various workshops and presentations, customers exchanged their experiences and provided valuable feedback on the operational performances of Flexx bogies as well as their expectations for the future development of the Flexx bogies portfolio. This will allow Bombardier to develop products suited to its customers’ aspirations.

The event also offered Bombardier the opportunity to present its new Bogie Technical Center currently being built on the Siegen site. The new facility will combine a test and validation center with an engineering hub. It will enable international bogie specialists to cooperate in an attractive and stimulating environment, helping Bombardier to evolve the Flexx bogie portfolio to fulfill customers’ requirements even better. It will also be a center of expertise to deal with the ever increasing homologation and certification requirements in different countries.

The customers were impressed by the test equipment and the innovative environment that Bombardier will provide with the Bogie Technical Centre. The center will open up at the beginning of 2014.

During the forum, a celebration marked the 10th anniversary of the Bogies Services and Bogie Component Repair & Overhaul (CRO) activities at the Siegen site. The team provides a comprehensive range of services and support to operators in Germany and across Western Europe to maintain and renovate their fleets of bogies.

Over the past 10 years, the team has continued to expand and today has 100 employees processing more than 600 bogies and 1,000 wheelsets per year.

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