Hi-Tec Spray Helps Keep Britain's Trains On Track

Hi-Tec Spray Ltd, the surface coatings equipment specialist, has signed a contract with train builder and maintenance company, ALSTOM Transport to help keep trains in top condition on UK's rail networ

Rolling stock carriages are frequently taken out of service because of damage caused by wear-and-tear, vandalism or when ballast on the tracks hits their sides.

ALSTOM carry out body repairs which then require coating using specialist spray equipment.

Hi-Tec Spray was commissioned to design and custom-make a specialised spot repair booth for the task.

This encapsulates the small sections that need spraying, while other types of carriage repairs are carried out nearby.

The highly-portable unit can be moved to different parts of the train as needed, to the area where spraying is required.

Another feature of the design allows the operator to control the spray equipment while standing outside the booth, vastly improving health and safety during the spraying process.

The new system reduces train servicing time, ensuring trains are back on track, and in service, quicker.

Mick Warren from Hi-Tec Spray said: 'We offered ALSTOM a tailor-made solution.

Hi-Tec Spray always go the extra mile for customers, designing and tailoring the equipment to their requirements, to ensure that it suits their ways of working and the task the equipment is needed for.

We're very happy at the success of this partnership and look forward to working with ALSTOM again.' Mick said a particularly noteworthy feature of the spot repair booth is how clean and self-contained the unit is.

All spraying is 'captured' within the booth, with no leakage.

Ian Ferguson from ALSTOM said: 'We are currently using the booth as a maintenance tool at our Chester Traincare Centre on the class 175 Coradia fleet.

We have been very pleased with Hi-Tec Spray's commitment and innovation on this project, which has provided us with another important tool for enabling us to deliver the highest standards of service to our customers.

'We are continuously on the look-out for new technologies to support our maintenance operations and are very satisfied with the initial results of the booth.

After a period of assessment at Chester, we will be looking to deploy this equipment elsewhere within our network of maintenance centres throughout the UK and around the world', he added.

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