Maintenance & Storage Hall for New CFL Trains Inaugurated in Bonnevoie

Luxembourg's national railway company, the CFL, recently inaugurated a new maintenance and storage hall for its new railcars.

"Hall 4", inaugurated on Friday 6 October 2023, is located on the site of the CFL's Maintenance and Storage Centre, on Boulevard de Kyiv in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie. Built in anticipation of the commissioning of the new Coradia Stream high-capacity trains, the hall has been designed to ensure their regular maintenance and upkeep in the best conditions, noted the CFL.

The inaugural ceremony took place in the presence of Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, the Chairman of CFL's Board of Directors, Jeannot Waringo, the Managing Director of CFL, Marc Wengler, and the head of CFL's trains and equipment Department, Luc Schmalen, as well as the team responsible for the work around team leader Thierry Hilger (trains and equipment department).

CFL reported that as its fleet expands, the "Atelier Central" workshop on Boulevard de Kyiv has reached its support limits. Hence the need to have a new hall to receive the 34 future CFL Coradia Stream high-capacity trains (new 2400 and 2450 series) during their regular servicing, maintenance and repairs which will be carried out by teams of six people working 24/7. The construction of Hall 4 (which is 18 metres wide, 93 metres long and 12 metres high) began in January 2022 and ended in summer 2023, according to schedule.

The CFL said it also plans to use the new hall to carry out some of the maintenance and repairs of other series of rolling stock.

"The additional capacities for the maintenance of modern and essential rolling stock in order to guarantee a high level of availability and service for many residents and cross-border workers show to what extent the train will remain in the long term the backbone of public transport in the country," stated Minister Bausch.

"This equipment and the know-how of our teams are for our customers the assurance of optimal support for the new Coradia Stream high-capacity railcars which will open a new era for the CFL, by offering more than 46% of additional seats by 2025, i.e. 38,751 seats available every day," added CFL Managing Director Marc Wengler.

Coordinated by the CFL's trains and equipment department, the construction work on Hall 4 was organised taking into account feedback and good practices from the neighbouring Atelier Central site. Hall 4 has two elevated tracks to accommodate trains in three-body composition (maximum length of 82 metres). Each track is lined with overhead walkways through which personnel can work on the roof where the major technical elements of the Coradia Stream high-capacity trains are located. A five-tonne overhead crane was also installed to handle bulky parts on the roof. The CFL's infrastructure manager contributed to the project by developing the exterior tracks and catenaries to transport trains to the entrance of Hall 4.

In terms of energy, solar panels were installed on the roof of the hall, over an area of 695 m2. The electricity they generate (estimated at 140 kW maximum) will be reinjected into the electrical network of the maintenance and storage centre site. In addition to the construction of the new building and its annex housing the technical premises, a water basin with a capacity of 400,000 litres was built in the basement of Hall 4. Connected to the network of fire hydrants which covers the entire site, the water contained in this basin should allow firefighters to autonomously fight a fire on-site for at least two hours.

(Photo credit: CFL)