Sydney Trains

To extend the machine life of older tamping machines being used in the fleet, Sydney Trains undertook an overhaul and retrofit of their hydraulic systems.

Following the upgrade, the hydraulic system faced a severe issue: the hydraulic fluid being used reacted poorly with the hose material lining, causing the hoses to swell and eventually split. This led to a catastrophic failure of the machine's hydraulic system.

The cost of failure was astronomical, including recovery of the vehicles, downtime, loss of thousands of litres of hydraulic oil and the potential need to refit hundreds of hoses across all the machines.

To prevent such incidents in the future, Sydney Trains needed a high-performing lubricant solution that would be compatible with their tamping machines. The chosen lubricant would need to comply with very strict environment specifications.

The hydraulic contractor and hose supplier associated with Sydney Trains discovered that eni was OEM-approved by the hose manufacturer for use with Eni Arnica S.

Hence, Chematek stepped in to understand whether Arnica S would offer a viable solution for Sydney Trains. Chematek worked directly with Sydney Trains to identify a product that would be eco-friendly, fire-resistant, and compatible with the chosen hose types.

After extensive collaboration with eni's technical team in Italy, Chematek discovered that Arnica Extra Plus would be a far more suitable product for use. Arnica Extra Plus is made with a synthetic saturated ester base capable of working at far higher temperatures than Arnica S.

Compatible with the chosen hoses, it also has EU Ecolabel accreditation specifically given for its superior performance on biodegradability tests.

This successful collaboration between Chematek, the supplier, and the customer is a testament to Chematek's ability to provide the best product solution to its customers.

Sydney Trains approved Eni Arnica Extra Plus for use in all tamping machines in its maintenance department, resulting in no further hose failures and no expensive hose refits across the fleet.

The company has been so satisfied with the performance of Arnica Plus that it now plans to transition the entire fleet to this product.

Key Learnings

• Australian businesses looking for alternative lubricant solutions should consider eni's range of HVI Hydraulic Oils, Synthetic Oils, and Compressor Oils.
• As a multi-brand lubricants distributor, Chematek works directly with customers to provide the best product solutions for their issues.
• With the EU Ecolabel, Arnica Extra Plus is the gold standard in biodegradable oils and should be seriously considered by all companies with environmental impacts.
• With an ability to operate at extremely high temperatures, Arnica Plus should be considered by businesses looking for safety-conscious product solutions.
• Eni has a range of options that can withstand extreme operating conditions and result in reduced maintenance costs.

Chematek is now in talks with railway operators, mine sites, and government departments about further roll-out of this product and other Eni products into the Australian market.

Chematek is a leading distributor of lubricants and greases in the Australian market, catering to a wide range of businesses. The company has earned a reputation for its exclusive distribution partnership with the major international energy company, eni.

Many Australian businesses have come to rely on eni's range of technical lubricants to address various operational challenges. A recent example of this is the adoption of eni Arnica Extra Plus by Sydney Trains.