Global service: Knorr-Bremse becomes CAF's long-term international maintenance partner

• Knorr-Bremse and CAF have signed a comprehensive maintenance framework agreement with a value in the mid-double-digit million-euro range
• The agreement includes the maintenance of braking systems (including friction materials), HVAC systems and entrance systems, as installed in various vehicle classes such as subway and regional trains
• The contract, initially due to run for an eight-year period, underscores Knorr-Bremse’s position as a globally established, locally present service specialist helping to improve safety and availability in the rail transportation sector

Knorr-Bremse has signed a global maintenance framework agreement with CAF, initially for an eight-year period. The agreement covers the maintenance of multiple Knorr-Bremse subsystems installed in various types of trains operating on several continents. The contract has been awarded as part of CAF’s development of a global purchasing strategy based on establishing long-term agreements with its strategic suppliers in order to improve its competitiveness, raise the quality of its services and propose future solutions and supply alternatives. This agreement reaffirms Knorr-Bremse’s position as a leading, globally active Partner of Choice specializing in the end-to-end life cycle management of rail vehicles.

“With a global presence that’s embedded at local level, our worldwide service offering for rail vehicles is one of the mainstays of our business, putting us right next to our customers,” explains Dr. Jürgen Wilder, Member of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG and responsible for the Rail Vehicle Systems division. “That’s why we’re delighted that CAF has reaffirmed their confidence in us by entering into this global service agreement and relying once again on the systems expertise, tailored services portfolio and solution-finding abilities of Knorr-Bremse RailServices. Through our services, we’re supporting CAF’s efforts to safeguard train operating life by helping to improve on-track availability and provide attractive mobility options to the general public.”

Together, Knorr-Bremse and CAF have surmounted the challenge that prompted this agreement, reaching solutions for different systems across a wide variety of fleets and geographic locations, agreeing criteria and defining the basis for a long-term relationship, always with the commitment to improve their efficiency and competitiveness. The agreement provides a comprehensive technological and commercial framework, meaning that there is no further need to spend significant time and effort negotiating maintenance contracts between the two companies. Instead, individual contracts can be swiftly subsumed into the recently concluded framework agreement and adapted to the specific vehicle maintenance requirements in each case – further streamlining and synergizing the relationship between the two parties.

Knorr-Bremse’s service business has enormous potential – the Company is constantly expanding and optimizing its portfolio of flexible, customer-centric service models covering areas such as repairs, replacement parts, maintenance and overhaul work, upgrades, and digital, data-driven solutions. This is how the Company is responding to customers’ individual, evolving needs and, as a globally active aftermarket specialist, creating transformative added value both for its partners and for safe, reliable, highly available rail services worldwide.