Cooperation between voestalpine VAE and Getzner Werkstoffe

Buers, Zeltweg (AT). voestalpine VAE, a subsidiary of the international voestalpine Group, and Getzner have mutually expanded their railway superstructure expertise with an agreement for global cooperation in the field of rail components protected against vibration.

In July 2018, Getzner Werkstoffe from Buers, Vorarlberg, and voestalpine VAE from Zeltweg, Styria, signed contracts confirming their engagement in a global collaboration. The cooperation between the two Austrian companies involves the development, manufacture and marketing of vibration-isolating products and systems to improve the quality of railway tracks. This will add to Getzner's expertise as the world's leading specialist for vibration protection, as well as elevating voestalpine VAE's position, as the global market leader for turnout systems and signal/diagnostic technology, to one of comprehensive system expertise.

Reducing life cycle costs
Integrating elastic solutions into track superstructures serves as vibration protection and reduces strain on the track. The collaboration between Getzner and voestalpine VAE means that both companies will be able to offer railway operators across the world additional opportunities to increase the performance of sensitive railway network components and reduce life cycle costs. "When it comes to vibration protection, Getzner is the world’s leading specialist. voestalpine VAE is the global market leader for railway turnout systems. Both companies are interested in working together to improve their position in the market. The partnership between Getzner and voestalpine VAE is first and foremost about our customers, who we can now offer the cumulative product expertise in railway sector we have pooled with voestalpine VAE," stresses Juergen Rainalter, Chief Executive Officer of Getzner.

The voestalpine Group is currently the only manufacturer worldwide that combines all competencies for the railway infrastructure, i.e. rails, turnout systems, digital monitoring systems, control systems, and railway sleepers, under one roof. In order to strengthen its total system expertise, voestalpine VAE is now integrating Getzner vibration protection products even further into its product portfolio, as well as its R&D operations. "This step is in line with our corporate strategy to optimise our position as a single-source supplier and to be able to offer even more expertise in the fields of track elasticity and fastening systems," summarises Dieter Fritz, spokesperson for the voestalpine VAE management board, on the background to the partnership from his company's perspective.

As underlined by Getzner Werkstoffe, their proprietary polyurethane materials, Sylomer® and Sylodyn®, bring a defined elasticity to track superstructures. These can be precisely tuned to the specific application and load, which increases the service life of the track sections and ensures their long-term availability.