European standard freight axle (ESFA25) development of a harmonised European freight axle

Following a strong demand from the railway sector and freight business in particular, UIC designed a new European Standard Freight Axle (ESFA). Its design complies with the basic technical requirements of the sector (see drawing in Appendix A). However, UIC’s primary goal when designing the new axle was to reduce its life cycle cost. This goal was achieved, in particular, by reducing the maintenance scheme. The key challenge inherent in the project was to demonstrate that a design with increased levels of safety could be achieved while also lowering maintenance costs.

This was insured through an extensive FMECA (Failure mode, effects and criticality analysis) (see Appendix B).

In the end, the ESFA axle benefits from 4 features to choose from with a single design:

1.  a standard, patent-free and TSI compliant design;
2.  a full safety analysis compliant with CSM requirements;
3.  maintenance reserves for use and repair (machining margins);
4.  greater inspection capabilities.