MOTOREX Magazine 2018 113 EN

WHAT’S NEW
Bus operators Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland AG were looking to simplify gearbox maintenance. Thanks to MOTOREX VZ
they have harmonized the maintenance intervals for the two gearbox types in their standard and articulated buses.
EXTENDING SERVICE INTERVALS WITH ATF VZ
DOUBLED AND HALVED
With 93 buses, Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland AG (VZO) carries an impressive
21.5 million passengers per year. And the trend is upward. The buses travel approximately
6.6 million kilometers annually. Improving efficiency and conserving resources are key
concerns for VZO. The company approached MOTOREX in hopes of harmonizing the oil change
interval of its 52 articulated buses with that of its 35 standard buses. The solution: ATF VZ.
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
© Voith Turbo GmbH & Co. KGt
ZF ECOLIFE ®
VOITH DIWA 6 ®
VZO is a member of the Zurich regional transit alliance
ZVV, responsible for public transportation across the
250 square kilometers of the Zürcher Oberland, the
right shore of Lake Zurich and Rapperswil-Jona.
IS HARMONIZATION POSSIBLE?
The maintenance crews at VZO wanted to be able to
operate the two different types of transmission in their
buses for 120,000 kilometers using one and the same
automatic transmission fluid. This would mean extending
the 60,000 kilometer fluid change interval of the
articulated buses to equal the 120,000 kilometer interval
of the standard buses. The goal of doubling service
life in the articulated buses while halving fluid change
intervals promised numerous benefits:
• Improving vehicle dispatching
• Cutting down time
• Lowering maintenance costs
• Simplifying logistics
• Conserving resources, etc.
Both the standard and the articulated buses are
Mercedes-Benz Citaro models. The standard buses are
equipped with Voith Diwa 5/6 transmissions, while
the articulated buses use ZF Ecolife transmissions. The
bus routes involve lots of stop-and-go operation, speeds
of up to 80 kph and in some cases challenging ascents
and descents.
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