ABB Robots and the Future of Railway Maintenance

From 1940s locomotive pits to Talgo's TBot at InnoTrans 2026: how ABB welding robots, large arms and Flexley AMRs fit into building and servicing trains.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/23/20261 min read

Railways have always been maintained by people working underneath the trains. In the 1940s, locomotive shops like the Chicago and North Western's were long, smoky halls where mechanics climbed into pits with lamps to check wheels and brakes by eye and by hand, one engine at a time.

Long smoky locomotive repair hall with rows of steam engines under skylights
Long smoky locomotive repair hall with rows of steam engines under skylights

The Chicago and North Western railroad's locomotive shop, 1942. Photo: Jack Delano / Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Modern depots are cleaner, but the job hasn't changed that much. Staff still walk the pits under each train with a torch and a checklist, often at night, so the fleet is ready for the morning rush. It is slow, cramped work, and a missed crack can take a train out of service for days.

Green passenger train entering a carriage wash building at a rail depot
Green passenger train entering a carriage wash building at a rail depot

A sleeper train passing through a depot carriage wash in England. Photo: Gareth James / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

At InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin, which runs from September 22 to 25, robots are one of the main themes among 180 world premieres. Talgo is showing TBot, an autonomous robot that drives through maintenance pits and records visual and thermal images of a train's underside. It is still being tested, with the goal of cutting inspection time by 20% from 2027.

Close view of a rail coupler and wheel assembly on a train bogie
Close view of a rail coupler and wheel assembly on a train bogie

Train running gear on display at InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin. Photo: Matti Blume / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ABB's robots fit earlier in the train's life, in the factory. Rail car bodies are long welded structures, and ABB sells arc welding robots with positioners that turn heavy parts so every seam can be reached. Large arms like the IRB 5710 handle heavy components on assembly lines.

Orange ABB welding robot next to an orange positioner holding a steel part
Orange ABB welding robot next to an orange positioner holding a steel part

An ABB arc welding robot with a positioner that turns heavy parts. Photo: Ana 2016 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Inside a depot, the carrying could go to mobile robots. ABB's Flexley Mover AMRs already move parts around factories without fixed tracks, and the same kind of machine could bring spare wheels and brake pads to a maintenance pit while an inspection robot like TBot scans the train above it.

Two engineers standing beside a large white ABB robot arm with a gripper
Two engineers standing beside a large white ABB robot arm with a gripper

Engineers with an ABB IRB 5710, a large robot for heavy handling. Photo: ABB

My guess is that depot work will turn into a night shift of robots checking every train, with mechanics fixing only what the scans flag. For passengers that should mean fewer surprise cancellations. It also means the people who do the job spend less time lying under a dripping train with a torch.

Low white ABB autonomous mobile robot on a warehouse floor between wooden crates
Low white ABB autonomous mobile robot on a warehouse floor between wooden crates

ABB's Flexley Mover P604 moves loads around a plant without fixed tracks. Photo: ABB

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