The technologies developed by Plasser & Theurer fulfil all key requirements: precise cut of the formation, sustainable cleaning quality, accurate re-placing of the clean ballast and exact positioning of the track.
Using a scraper chain, the ballast can be cleaned without dismantling the track. Then it is cleaned in a large vibrating screen with several screen layers. This helps to achieve optimum quality of the cleaned ballast. The ballast excavating chain also prepares the right foundation for the new ballast bed. The clean ballast is returned to the track directly behind the excavating chain. The waste is conveyed to the front of the machine and usually transferred to a spoil conveyor and transport system.
To meet different local requirements, ballast cleaning machines are individually specified, which is key for their cost-efficiency.
Only thorough cleaning over the whole ballast bed width will achieve the desired cleaning result. It is not enough to clean the ballast bed shoulders only.
The continuous-action removal of the track bed material and the required feed rate demand enormous tractive effort.
Machines have to meet the following requirements:
Plasser & Theurer cleaning machines meet all these requirements perfectly.
We build ballast cleaning machines in all sizes and output categories, with one, two or three screening units. We also offer additional solutions to enhance the machine functionality, e.g. for the supply of new ballast, additional cleaning of smudgy and viscous fouling or the integration of dynamic track stabilisation. Moreover, we offer systems for trackless ballast bed cleaning, for cleaning of turnouts and for selective cleaning.
A wide range of additional equipment can be used to enhance the functionality of basic machines and to adapt to the respective requirements.
We recognised the need for ballast bed cleaning machines early on – following first trials in the late 1950s, our first fully hydraulic ballast cleaning machine, the RM 61, went into operation in 1963.