The plant of the Vienna Climatic Wind Tunnel was extended by a third preparation hall, a modernized control room as well as office and laboratory facilities.
On March 24, 2022, the postponed opening of the annex to the climatic wind tunnel could finally be duly celebrated together with 90 invited guests. Among the guests were also representatives of the owner companies of the operating company Rail Tec Arsenal of the Vienna Climatic Wind Tunnel.
Originally designed for rail vehicles, tests are also carried out on road vehicles, for aviation and on other technical systems. From optimizing thermal comfort to improving the energy efficiency of mass transit vehicles to safety testing of sensitive technical systems, the modern facility is unique throughout Europe, internationally recognized and booked. In order to meet the increased demands and high demand for climate tests, more than a year was spent working on the expansion of the facility. The result: a third preparation hall, a modernized control room, and new office and laboratory space.
Rail Tec Arsenal Fahrzeugversuchsanlage GmbH (RTA, operator of the Vienna Climatic Wind Tunnel) and Schieneninfrastruktur-Dienstleistungs-gesellschaft mbH (SCHIG mbH, owner of the plant) invited to the opening ceremony in the new premises. After the ceremonial speeches by RTA Managing Directors Franz Hrachowitz and Gabriel Haller and SCHIG mbH Managing Director Stefan Weiss, a gala dinner and a guided tour through the new premises rounded off the evening.
In his opening speech, RTA Managing Director KR Ing. Franz Hrachowitz thanked SchiG and all the companies involved in the Climate-Wind-Tunnel project from the very beginning for their good cooperation and foresight in co-financing and setting up such a unique facility.
Dr. Stefan Weiss, MBA (Managing Director SCHIG mbH): "As the owner of the facility, SCHIG is particularly pleased about the success and the high demand for climate tests, which RTA carries out with the climatic wind tunnel at the highest level. This proves that investments were made in the right place almost 20 years ago by now. And above all, the project shows how well the interaction between the public and private sectors can work. In the RTA, we have a reliable partner who is professionally managing the Climatic Wind Tunnel and marketing it internationally."
Finally, Dipl.-Ing. Gabriel Haller, MAS (Technical/Scientific Director RTA) thanked all employees and participants for the joint work during the one-year construction phase, which made the facility fit for the future: "Over the years, RTA has developed the worldwide unique climatic wind tunnel for rail vehicles into a key test facility for future-oriented mobility and is glad to have a partner in SCHIG, which supports and contributes to these activities".
History: For more than four decades, climate tests were carried out in the vehicle test facility at the Vienna Arsenal before the newly constructed climatic wind tunnel was opened on the Pauker grounds in Vienna-Floridsdorf at the end of 2002. For financing the construction of the plant, a public private partnership (PPP) model was realized. In this context, SCHIG mbH founded the subsidiary Rail Test & Research GmbH (RTR) as public partner, whose main task was to secure the financing and to realize the new facility in due time. The Federal Government participated by providing equity capital and guaranteeing loans. RTA was founded by the most important European rail vehicle manufacturers and the Austrian Research and Testing Center Arsenal GmbH (today's AIT Austrian Institute of Technology). As an internationally active, independent research and testing institute with over 50 years of experience, RTA currently operates two climatic wind tunnels.
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