Bombardier opens new high-tech laboratory in Manheim

The Canada-based transportation giant, Bombardier, has opened a new high-tech laboratory in Mannheim on Thursday (23 August).

The laboratory, which has seen Bombardier invest approximately €1mn, saw Baden-Württemberg Transport Minister, Winfried Hermann and the Thuringian Environment Minister, Anja Siegesmund, turn out in support.

Transport Minister, Winfried Hermann, said: “The laboratory for vehicle control and signalling technology that we are officially inaugurating here today in Mannheim offers all possibilities to make the rail transport of the future safer and more efficient.”

“In Germany we are at the precipice of a dramatic technological revolution – including in railways. Digitisation of railways will allow us to respond adequately to the automation of road transport and to secure competitiveness within Europe.”

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The new facility will enable the firm to test pioneering electronics systems for train control and signalling and control systems and will have around 1,140 square metres of floorspace.

The Mannheim building will be primarily used as a base for the trains to be programmed, with work undertaken on the digital network for communication between the train and track section to enable there to be greater safety levels in rail transport.

Michael Fohrer, Managing Director of Bombardier Transportation Germany, said: “Mannheim is a site with a long tradition that has for over 100 years been set apart by its pioneering spirit.”

“The company is banking on this location. We are making targeted investments here in future technologies.”