Lifting and jacking equipment
Lifting and jacking equipment raises railway vehicles or their components to working height for maintenance, inspection, or component exchange, and enables bogies to be separated from vehicle bodies.
The choice between fixed and mobile systems shapes the layout of the entire depot — a recurring question across maintenance and workshop equipment.
Vehicle lifting systems
Stationary underfloor lifting systems are built into the workshop floor beneath the track. When a vehicle is positioned above and the lift actuated, columns or platforms rise to engage the underframe and raise the complete vehicle.
These installations suit high-throughput depots where consistent positioning and rapid deployment matter more than flexibility. Once the vehicle rests on supporting columns, the bogies are lowered on drop tables and moved to the bogie workshop.
Mobile column jacks are the alternative where vehicle types vary or the floor layout rules out fixed installations. Each column is wheeled into position and its lifting arm engaged with a designated jacking point on the underframe.
Wireless synchronisation coordinates the lift across all columns, with sensors correcting speed differentials in real time to keep the vehicle level at all stages of travel. Column capacities vary by manufacturer, and sets can be configured in any multiple of columns to match the vehicle weight.
Bogie-specific equipment
Bogie lifting platforms are mobile units running on workshop tracks beneath the removed bogie, raising it on an electrohydraulic system to a comfortable working height for inspection and component exchange. Bogie rotators turn the bogie onto its side, giving access to the frame underside without the ergonomic hazard of working beneath a suspended load.
Bogie turntables transfer bogies between adjacent workshop roads or reposition them for different access angles. They run on embedded rails and are powered electrically or operated manually for lower-frequency use.
Standards and safety
Railway lifting equipment must meet the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC), which requires CE marking and conformity assessment before the equipment is placed on the European market. From 20 January 2027, Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 replaces the directive; vehicle servicing lifts fall under its Annex I, Part A, which requires mandatory involvement of a notified body in the conformity assessment.
Load ratings, overload protection, emergency stop functions, and synchronisation accuracy are verified as part of the assessment. Hydraulic components in lifting equipment are generally excluded from the Pressure Equipment Directive, as Article 1(2)(f) exempts pressure equipment covered by the Machinery Directive up to category I.