In January 2020, the members of IG TR Trans Rail met in Sursee for a fateful meeting. The TR Trans Rail RU informed the vehicle owners of historic railroad vehicles in detail about the requirements to be met. In order to be able to continue operating under TR Trans Rail in future, every vehicle owner needs a set of maintenance regulations in which the maintenance stages (what, to what depth, at what frequency) and the maintenance standards must be defined. The requirements for vehicle documentation have been outlined. In addition to the data on the procurement and use of the vehicle, a complete record of all maintenance measures carried out must be kept. Those responsible at RU TR postulated that a valid description of the safety-relevant components should be the starting point.
The members of the IG took on the task, drew up the required list and were able to submit it to the RU within the set deadline on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
We have a dream
On 13 June 2020, the working group met in Olten and formulated the vision of a future RTE under the working title "We have a dream": Are we able to create something like a "harmonized set of maintenance rules for historic railroads" as a group of stakeholders?
At a meeting on 31 August 2020 with HECH President Hugo Wenger and HECH Board Member Simon Weiss, HECH pledged its support for the project as the national association.
Markus Barth took on the task of getting those responsible at VöV interested in the project in an initial round. The request was received positively, and Martin Strobel, the project manager for railroad technology at VöV, introduced the HECH core group to the formal requirements for an R RTE. A draft project brief was drawn up under his leadership in spring / summer 2021 and was approved by the RTE project management on December 9, 2021.
In 11 meetings, the R RTE 49'910 working group created an impressive set of maintenance rules and placed them under the Christmas tree 2023 for the world of historic railroad vehicle owners.