Siemens Mobility and Railpool have announced plans to jointly build a new locomotive service hub in Verona, Italy. The two companies have signed a preliminary agreement to purchase a 15,000 square meter plot from Consorzio ZAI within the Verona Interporto logistics hub, which is recognized as Italy’s largest integrated traffic terminal.
The joint investment of approximately €20 million will fund the development of an advanced maintenance facility designed for servicing locomotives from various manufacturers. The center will operate as an “open access” depot, offering five tracks for light maintenance and one track equipped with a wheel lathe. This setup will allow testing of both multisystem (MS) and direct current (DC) locomotives, as well as maintenance for all major European signaling systems.
Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, stated: “Together with Railpool, we are strengthening rail freight on the strategic Verona-Brenner corridor. This dedicated locomotive hub is equipped with state-of-the-art maintenance technology to give our customers maximum availability and efficiency. It will support the shift of freight from road to rail as the Brenner Base Tunnel opens and become an important part of our European depot and service network.”
Torsten Lehnert, CEO of Railpool, added: “With our new maintenance hub in Verona, we are strengthening our service network across Europe’s key logistics corridors. This investment underscores our long-term commitment to delivering reliable, full-service locomotive leasing solutions that support the evolving needs of customers throughout the continent.”
The new facility is expected to play a key role in optimizing lifecycle performance and system availability for locomotives operating along the strategic Verona-Brenner corridor. It will focus on light maintenance activities such as routine inspections and minor adjustments to ensure operational readiness. According to Siemens Mobility, this Partner Rail Service Center highlights their commitment to advancing Italy’s rail infrastructure with localized technological solutions aimed at reliability and efficiency.
The Verona hub will complement Siemens Mobility’s existing Rail Service Center in Novara. Since 2015, that depot has been providing full service for over 120 locomotives used by major European railway operators along the Rhine-Alpine TEN-T corridor.
Siemens Mobility operates more than 100 service locations globally across over 30 countries, employing about 7,000 rail service experts. These facilities help ensure high availability rates for customer rail systems. Railpool plans to expand its capabilities by leveraging experience from its six in-house workshops and support teams in Italy alongside its warehouse stocked with more than 4,500 spare parts.
In addition to this project, Siemens Mobility and Railpool signed a framework agreement in 2024 for up to 250 locomotives destined for Railpool’s fleet. The agreement includes multisystem Vectron variants capable of operation in up to 16 countries across different European corridors.