Editorial

Dear Readers,

I was very pleased to have met many of you again over the past few months. A machine handover in Hungary, our established expert conference in Italy, the Railway Forum, the TRAKO in Poland, and customer meetings in Linz provided a welcome opportunity to exchange ideas about strategies, products, and innovations.

I would like to extend a special thank you to all of our customers who participated in our customer survey and gave us valuable feedback. We take your feedback very seriously: it will help us to continue doing what we do well and to utilise the potential for improvement outlined in the survey.

We are all going through a great deal of change, particularly in terms of demand for alternative drive systems. We introduced our first E³ machine back in 2015, and we are investing in the further development of our E³ machines on an ongoing basis. The largest single order in the history of our company was the main highlight of this strategic programme so far: our customer ÖBB tasked us with developing, supplying, and maintaining 56 high-performance vehicles in hybrid technology. This not only boosts innovation for our company, Plasser & Theurer, but also sends a clear signal to the international railway industry: alternative, sustainable technology is the way to go.

Innovation is also the keyword at the iaf 2022 in Münster. Seeing our products live on track is ultimately the best way to get an idea of our commitment to quality and our track maintenance expertise. Besides demonstrating new machines on the way to delivery during a stopover in Münster, we will also be showcasing our Customer Services products. With everything from training and digital monitoring to retrofits and upgrades, you will see how we keep an eye on a machine for its entire life cycle. I am very much looking forward to meeting you in Münster!

Yours sincerely,

Thomas Schöpf
CSO, Plasser & Theurer