APM Maintenance Vehicles: Past Experience, Present Design, and Future Goals

DaimlerChrysler Railsystems (Adtranz) is a worldwide manufacturer of transportation systems, including automated people movers. Adtranz has a requirement for a variety of maintenance vehicles at its many sites. The styles range from modified pickup trucks to flat cars. This paper discusses the past designs and future goals of the maintenance vehicles and focuses on the latest design. The requirements for these vehicles have increased over the years along with the demand. They vary from a simple vehicle for carrying maintenance equipment and personnel to a vehicle that can tow an entire disabled consist. Each design was modified to accommodate the new requirements and to improve upon the old. The evolution of the vehicles began with tractors and trucks. The latest design in maintenance vehicles has moved away from a road-based vehicle as the framework and now incorporates a purpose-built frame based on the chassis of the people movers purchased for the same system. Future plans are variations of this design, driven by power requirements. These and other changes have allowed the maintenance vehicle to become a more useful product, providing customers with a wider range of capabilities to meet their increasing needs and giving them a choice between service vehicles and recovery vehicles.