Rail E-ssentials

TÜV SÜD becomes one-stop-shop for vehicle dynamics testing

TÜV SÜD has acquired the IWT4 Instrumented Wheelset Technology business from SNC-Lavalin (formerly Interfleet Technology). The acquisition further bolsters TÜV SÜD’s position as a one-stop-shop for independent assessment, testing and approval of railway vehicles.

Instrumented wheelsets are railway wheelsets that have been instrumented and calibrated for accurately measuring the dynamic contact forces between the wheel and the rail. In Europe and many other regions around the globe it is common place to utilise instrumented wheelsets in the approval process for new or modified vehicles.

In the case of IWT4, instrumentation is applied to the manufacturer´s or operator´s original wheelset, without any structural modification, which means that the wheelsets structural integrity is preserved. Sweden’s fourth generation of Instrumented wheelsets (IWT4) was introduced in 2006 and was quickly adopted by the market for applications in the USA, China, Norway, Finland, India, Sweden and many countries in central Europe. IWT4 draws on over fifty years’ experience of producing instrumented wheelsets in Sweden and completes the services of TÜV SÜD’s railway test centres in Halle and Görlitz (Germany).