Monthly Highlight: Germany

Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland (RSD) has been active on railway construction sites of all sizes for public and private railways in Germany for decades. In 2019, the track construction companies RS Gleisbau, itself taken over by the British infrastructure company Balfour Beatty and which emerged from Schreck Mieves GmbH, and Klenk Gleis- und Tiefbau GmbH & Co KG were merged with the Sersa GmbH, which was founded in 1992. They have since been operating jointly as Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland.

Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland is one of the most important providers of new builds and conversions as well as the maintenance of railway infrastructures for all types of construction and track gauges in Germany. The company is also active in the areas of mechanical track construction, rail welding, inspection, plant management and training together with its affiliated and subsidiary companies and has a workforce of over 600 employees at 13 locations.

Motivated employees with extensive expertise and many years of experience strengthen RSD's leading position in the market. Respect, honesty, loyalty and integrity are the values that define Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland.

• Track renewal and reconstruction (in all gauges)
• Switch renewal
• Reworking of switches and tracks
• Single sleeper replacement
• Rail replacement
• Level crossing work
• Track and switch maintenance
• Hall and measuring tracks, crane tracks and specialised solutions
•  Switch service
•  Substructure / track civil engineering
• Cable civil engineering
•  Auxiliary bridges
• Rail welding
• Production of gapless tracks and switches
• Grinding technology
• Slab track
• Slab track refurbishment

The affiliated and subsidiary companies Rhomberg Sersa Vossloh (RSV), JumboTec and Rhomberg Bahntechnik also offer other services ranging from mechanical track construction and maintenance of rail vehicles, inspection and analysis of infrastructure to the construction of major projects and electrotechnical infrastructure.

As part of the Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group, Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland places great emphasis on the use of innovative technologies and the (further) development of innovative products. RSD for instance is significantly advancing the topic of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and is already using digital technologies on its construction sites today.

It also focuses on the development and use of innovative products. The service portfolio of RSD and its subsidiary RSV includes the following products:
 

• Screw Hole Renovation SLS ®
• Sleeper Crack Grouting SRV ®
• Slab-Track-System IVES ®
• Universal Transition Module V-TRAS ®
• Software MR.pro ®

Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland was rated GOLD by EcoVadis for the first time in 2016, placing it in the "Advanced" performance level. This gold rating places RSD among the top 5% of all companies assessed by EcoVadis. The evaluation is based on 21 CSR indicators in the areas of environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

In addition, the RSD holds the following certificates:

• ISO 9001:2015   – Quality Management
• ISO 14001:2015 – Environmental Management
• ISO 18001:2015 – Health and Safety Management
• ISO 19600:2014 – Compliance
• DB prequalifications / approvals
  - Superstructure, conventional ballast
    Track line I; high-speed traffic > 160 km/h
    Switches track I; high-speed traffic > 160 km/h
  - General earthworks and civil engineering
    Cable routing systems incl. civil engineering
    Cable construction under railway operation
  - Superstructure welding > 160 km/h
  - Stress equalisation of gapless tracks, points and crossings
• DQB prequalification
  - Individual services: 
    411-3 Asphalt surface courses
    411-4 Paved surfaces, slabs and edgings
    411-5 Road infrastructure 
    412-1 Track construction work 
    412-2 Track maintenance work
    412-3 Track infrastructure 
  - comprehensive services:: 
    614-2 comprehensive construction work for railways
• SCC**:2011

Rhomberg Sersa Deutschland took on the contract for the modernisation of the Halle (Saale) train formation hall in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt as part of a joint venture from 2013 to 2018. The project, which was commissioned by DB ProjektBau GmbH, was carried out in the course of the major project Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit Nr. 8 and was implemented in a consortium with GP Verkehrswegebau and Rail Power Systems (formerly Balfour Beatty Rail). The aim of the modernisation programme was to convert the Halle junction into an efficient marshalling yard, whereby the disused train formation hall was extended and equipped with the most modern processing technology and shunting facilities.

The track end position required absolute accuracy, as the most modern shunting technology was applied and the minimum track distances were narrow. That was why tamping support surveying with GEDO was used. The logistics services for the supply of superstructure materials to the construction site were provided by the joint venture. Pre-assembled double slip switches were installed with a tractor crane, as well as 40.000 wooden sleepers, which could only be installed while wearing a protective suit for increased occupational health and safety from summer 2015. This project also required a well-thought-out organisation of the work and the construction site so that the services could be carried out in parallel with the neighbouring lots.