Unimog Road-Rail Vehicles for Railway Infrastructure Maintenance

At the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, Daimler Truck, ZAGRO Bahn- und Baumaschinen GmbH, and G. Zwiehoff GmbH demonstrated specialized road-rail vehicles for railway infrastructure operations. Concurrently, the manufacturer and its distribution partners have delivered a new Unimog U 423 fleet to optimize the physical maintenance of the Munich tram network.

Railway Infrastructure Maintenance Deployment
Daimler Truck, in collaboration with general distributor Henne Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH and Zwiehoff, supplied the first of four new Unimog units to Stadtwerke München (SWM) and Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG). The vehicle fleet is integrated into the municipal maintenance strategy to service the tram network. Regarding the operational deployment, Sinaida Cordes, Authorized Signatory at SWM/MVG, notes that the vehicles "can be deployed year-round across a wide range of applications to maintain and clean our rail infrastructure," serving as a strategic component to make the "tram network more resilient."

Road-Rail System Configuration
The delivered Unimog U 423 utilizes a Zwiehoff road-rail system to transition mechanically between street and track environments. The modular architecture enables seasonal retooling of the chassis. For winter operations, the vehicle interfaces with an Aebi Schmidt VPL24 snow plow and a Bucher Municipal Yeti W25 spreader. During summer maintenance, the platform accommodates a flatbed body and an Autech rail-grinding trailer, powered by a hydraulic generator and equipped with a lifting device. The system also supports attachments for vegetation control, vacuum operations, and a water tank for fire prevention during grinding processes.

Heavy-Duty Shunting and Traction Capabilities
In partnership with ZAGRO and Zwiehoff, Daimler Truck provides Unimog configurations engineered for high-capacity industrial shunting tasks. Vehicles equipped with the Zwiehoff rail guidance system and a Knorr wagon braking system can safely move trailing loads of up to 1,000 metric tons. The requisite tractive effort is generated through a torque converter clutch and permanent all-wheel drive, utilizing the physical friction of the vehicle's rubber tires directly on the steel rails to maximize load transfer and operational efficiency.

Track Maintenance and Visual Alignment
For railway line maintenance, the ZAGRO Unimog U 423 variant incorporates a Palfinger rail-road crane and a MULAG mower attachment. To facilitate operational flexibility during track access, an integrated camera system provides visual telemetry to the operator during the rail-on process. This sensory feedback ensures precise physical alignment of the vehicle on the tracks, enabling reliable transitions between road and rail environments even in confined spatial conditions.

Edited by Maria Brueva, Induportals editor – adapted by AI.

www.daimlertruck.com