A plus in efficiency and safety for bus maintenance

Local public transport working for sustainability: five stateof- the-art environmentally friendly electric buses are in continuous operation in Regensburg’s old town. To ensure that this ultra-modern e-bus fleet, and all other 116 buses of Regensburg’s local public transport authority can be perfectly maintained in their workshops, “das Stadtwerk Regensburg.Fahrzeuge und Technik GmbH” relies on a mobile roof working platform from MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik. This combines work safety and efficiency, which keeps the maintenance team happy as well as the employers’ liability insurance association.

Engineers can work on either side on six-metre-long platforms that can be extended to a width of 1.35 metres. This gives them easy access to all the important modules and components housed on the roof of the buses. Because the roof working platform is designed as a gantry platform and has an additional height-adjustable front working platform, all inspection and repair work that needs to be done can be completed more quickly and safely than ever before: the buses drive in, the work platforms can dock onto the vehicles with zero clearance and the maintenance team takes over.

Prior to this new investment, “das Stadtwerk Regensburg. Fahrzeuge und Technik GmbH” used to work with self-constructed steel platforms in the maintenance workshop. However, it was not easy to transport them to the location of use for each new operation, and they were also unstable, heavy and unwieldy. “A serious workplace accident involving an employee drastically showed us that we needed a different solution, and that we simply could not compromise on safety at work,” said Andreas Riebel, Deputy Plant Manager and Head of Organisation at the company.

Riebel and his team went in search of a professional solution and found what they were looking for being used by their colleagues at the Frankfurt am Main transport authority. They were already using a gantry roof working platform from Günzburg to maintain their underground train carriages. “It was exactly what we were looking for. And thanks to the excellent advice from the MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik project team, it quickly became clear that only a few adjustments to our particular requirements were needed, so that we too could have a perfect solution in our workshops. In addition to maximum work safety, it was particularly important to us that we did not have long setup times. This saves us an enormous amount of time in everyday maintenance and, of course, money, because the vehicles are back on the road more quickly,” says Riebel.

MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik was convincing once again in Regensburg thanks to its expertise as an experienced equipment and project planner. This is because the design was optimally adapted to the individual requirements and local conditions. The gantry roof working platform stands above a pit workstation and consists of two individual platforms with railing frames. These can be moved together parallel to the vehicle via a fixed rail guide, which prevents any collisions with the bus.

The work platforms on each side are 85 cm and 65 cm wide and can be mechanically widened by 50 cm and 30 cm respectively, which allows them to dock with a bus with zero clearance. Both sides are connected at the front by a 3.15 m long and 85 cm wide front work platform. The height of this platform can be adjusted so that Andreas Riebel’s team can also carry out work on the front of the vehicle.

The engineers have access to the work platforms via stairs with a handrail and railing, as well as a self-closing safety door. Lower levels are installed on both sides for maintenance on the smaller and lower electric buses. These levels can be pushed out mechanically and accessed from the upper platforms. All platforms dock to the outer skin of the vehicles with zero clearance, so that there is always a closed working surface. The aluminium platform surface with an R9 slip resistance rating and a folding railing frame as a safety railing at the front provide added safety at work.

Due to the limited space in the workshop, one side of the roof working platform has been designed with a single- column support structure. This made it possible to reduce the footprint in the floor area to a minimum.

In Regensburg, up to two people usually work on the roof working platform at the same time to maintain, repair or replace batteries, control units or air conditioning systems, for example. The engineers can perform maintenance on up to three vehicles per day – depending on the actual work that needs to be done. Whether articulated buses with conventional propulsion or the somewhat smaller electric midi-buses used in Regensburg’s narrow old town: the vehicles can drive directly under the gantry roof working platform and, depending on the type of vehicle, the working area can be adapted to the needs at the time. Additional mechanically extendable platforms were installed on both sides on a lower level especially for the maintenance of the new electric bus fleet.

“We are delighted with the support and project planning of MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik. From the very first moment, it was clear that MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik was interested in working with us to develop the best solution for us, one that not only met all our requirements, but was also perfectly within budget. That was definitely not the case with other providers,” said Riebel, who had explored the market before deciding to invest. “das Stadtwerk Regensburg.Fahrzeuge und Technik GmbH” is so satisfied with its new access equipment partner that it is consistently expanding its cooperation with MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik. “Even when it comes to replacing or purchasing new access equipment such as ladders or platforms, we now rely on the quality products from MUNK Günzburger Steigtechnik. We have found a real partner for life.”

Ferdinand Munk, Owner and CEO of the MUNK Group, is naturally pleased with the positive feedback from the customer. “Such praise makes me incredibly proud and at the same time it spurs us on to become even better. After all, our claim as an innovation and technology leader is that we always offer our customers perfect solutions. It is great that we have once again succeeded in doing this with the Regensburg project. The gantry roof working platform shows that it is not always necessary to have loads of equipment in order to increase work safety and efficiency in everyday maintenance. On the contrary: big leaps can be made even with smaller budgets. You just have to know how,” explains Munk, perfectly demonstrating the company’s motto: “Security. Made in Germany.”