Swiss engineering company Wyss&Lila has opened a rolling stock maintenance workshop in Rijeka, Croatia, establishing an Adriatic base for its expanding network across central and southeast Europe, according to railwaygazette.com.

The Zug-based company opened the workshop on June 18 at the Adriatic port to support rolling stock operating across the region’s main freight corridors.

‘Croatia and Rijeka are strategically important for Wyss&Lila’, CEO Nikola Tubić told Railway Gazette International. ‘Our strategy is to build maintenance capacity where vehicles actually operate. Today, we can support railway maintenance from the North Sea ports through central and southeast Europe towards the Bosporus. Rijeka gives this network an important Adriatic anchor.’

‘For us, Rijeka is the starting point for a broader development. Wyss&Lila is ready to invest significantly in the region and build Rijeka into an important maintenance hub.’

The Wyss&Lila site is located within a depot operated by Croatian state-owned rail freight operator HŽ Cargo and covers around 760 m², including approximately 660 m² of workshop space and 100 m² of offices and support areas.

It was formally opened by Tubić and HŽ Cargo CEO Dragan Marčinko.

Wyss&Lila operates in three main areas: rolling stock engineering, maintenance and infrastructure design, with more than 130 employees across 11 international locations.

Its engineering centre in Serbia’s Beograd covers more than 700 m² and is supported by engineers from Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

‘Through the partnership with HŽ Cargo, we want to bring modern maintenance methods, engineering know-how and practical railway experience into the region, while developing local competence and training the next generation of railway maintenance specialists’, Tubić added. ‘In the next phase, Rijeka should develop into a competence point for modern railway maintenance.’

Wyss&Lila said the company combines ‘Swiss quality standards with practical international railway experience and a growing operational presence along important European rail corridors’.