Maintenance & Overhaul
Maintenance regime
A swap body costs €200–400 a year to keep. A wagon — and still more a loco — is its own cash-flow book, which is why availability sits in telematics and the overhaul calendar rather than DB Bahnwerk third-party prices.
Wagons (UIC/DB tradition)
| Step | Interval | Content | Sgnss cue |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR1 | 6 years | Brake test, paint | ~€8k |
| HU | 6 years | Visual + NDT | ~€3k |
| BR2 | 12 years | Full brake, bogie | ~€25k |
| Routine | p.a. | Damage, wheelset | ~€2.5k |
RID tanks extra: internal 2.5 years, pressure 5 years, equipment 12 months. 18-year Sgnss sum ~€65k.
Locomotives
- IS1 — 7 days / 5,000 km · IS2 — 90 days / 25,000 km · IS3 — 12 months / 100,000 km (2–4 weeks shop).
- Main overhaul 7.5 years / 1,000,000 km · 3–4 months · €600k–1.2m. Vectron lifetime shop ~€3.8m (~100% of new).
Atlas shops: Bydgoszcz (wagon BR/HU, ~250 p.a.), Wrocław (RID tanks), Katowice (loco IS). HR at Siemens Allach, Alstom Kassel or Newag Nowy Sącz.
Technical obsolescence
Two mandate windows act like the EN 284 migration to Class C: miss them and you drop off the corridors.
- ETCS from 2030 on TEN-T core, 2040 full network. A legacy loco without Level 2 loses cross-border rent; retrofit €250–500k.
- TSI Noise: composite (LL) blocks mandatory since 2024 on many relations. Retrofit is capex, not cosmetic opex.
Managers with ETCS-ready, LL-compliant fleets write premium rates. The rest slides into national spot or the CEE secondary market — the 15-year swap-body resale analogue.