Bombardier Celebrates Opening of New Rail Maintenance Depot in Italy

Canadian manufacturer Bombardier celebrated the opening of its new rail maintenance depot in Milan on Thursday as the firm looked to strengthen its European rail services offerings with rapid, 24/7 maintenance capabilities.

The 300,000 square metre facility in Melzo, Italy, part of the Rail Hub Milano (RHM) logistics district, was a state-of-the-art depot capable of supporting locomotives and rolling stock with rapid assistance.

Developed in cooperation with logistics group Contship Italia, the owners of RHM, the depot housed 12km of rail track, four of which matched international standards and measuring 750m, another three tracks at 550m length, and twelve additional tracks to be used as junctions as well as for external parking.

Pierre Cicion, head of services in the Middle East, Africa and Italy at Bombardier said, "The Melzo depot will enable Bombardier to strengthen its services offering by providing rapid response to locomotives that need urgent support. The workshop is engineered to offer 'pit-stops', high-turnover, brief and frequent on-site operations. Bombardier estimates the site will be able to manage around 400 locomotive maintenance operations per year. This number can be further increased by taking over international operators which use in-house assistance abroad."

Sebastiano Grasso, group managing director of business services at Contship Italia described the facility's importance, saying, "The Melzo, Liscate and Vignate areas near Milan are developing into a powerful logistics region able to support and add value to the nation's manufacturing industry. The shared investment in Melzo depot with Bombardier has enhanced this intra-European and intercontinental crossroads with a powerful, rapid-reaction maintenance capability. This not only keeps trains rolling but also lowers environmental impact by limiting the logistical reliance on freight trucking."

As of 1520 BST, Bombardier shares were unmoved at CAD 2.22.