New drive technologies, systems and functions - modern light rail vehicles and streetcars are becoming increasingly complex, but also heavier. Where weight is added, savings have to be made elsewhere. Together with the project partners RCS GmbH Rail Components and Systems, Arno Hentschel GmbH and the Fraunhofer Plastics Center Oberlausitz FKO, Hörmann Vehicle Engineering GmbH has taken on this problem.

The "INTEGRAL - Integrative lightweight roof for rail vehicles" project has been working for a year on the development of a highly integrative lightweight roof structure made from a load-optimized fibre-plastic composite.

The Mayor of Chemnitz, Sven Schulze, and his spokesperson for the economy, Silvana Bergk, were guests at HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering on July 8. They discussed joint topics for the mobility of the future in Chemnitz

The Würzburg tramway has commissioned HeiterBlick GmbH to manufacture and supply 18 new vehicles. The vehicles are 5-car, modular low-floor streetcars. They are designed to meet the special requirements of a demanding infrastructure with steep sections and a track gauge of 1,000 millimetres. The first vehicles in this series will enter passenger service in Würzburg in 2022. The engineering partner for HeiterBlick is HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering GmbH.

The Chemnitz-based company HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering is developing a unique innovation together with the Leipzig-based company HeiterBlick GmbH and the Chemnitz-based company Flexiva Automation & Robotik: Europe's first hydrogen fuel cell-powered streetcar.

Cities are dynamic ecosystems in which mobility has a significant impact on quality of life. If this is not only to be maintained but also improved, urban mobility must be readjusted as quickly as possible and offer adequate solutions for a range of challenges. These include a steadily growing population, particularly in metropolitan areas, rising CO2 and particulate pollution, an outdated transport infrastructure, high noise levels and the very limited space available for use. The logistics of the so-called last mile are of immense importance here.

Another milestone has been reached in the development of a new type of bogie frame for rail transport - the go-ahead has been given for the start of production of the "hybridBOGIE" (hybrid bogie) side member demonstrator. HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering GmbH, based in Chemnitz, worked intensively with its project partner, the Institut für Konstruktion und Verbundbauweisen gemeinnützige GmbH, on the production tool and on developing and refining the production process at the end of 2020 in order to develop a near-series reference component for the side member. "In addition to the actual process validation, the side member component will also be used for further investigations in the further course of the project, including the testing and evaluation of mechanical parameters and suspension properties," explains Matthias Büttner, Project Manager at HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering.

HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering GmbH, based in Chemnitz, has been supporting the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for two years in the development of the NGT chassis of the future. Disruptive and forward-looking train concepts such as the DLR's Next Generation Train are intended to make new technologies and research findings available to the rail industry. HÖRMANN Vehicle Engineering is proud to be able to make a contribution to this.