During the season, around 4,000 guests are supplied with food and drink every day on the Giggijoch in Sölden (Austria). But how are around 2,000 kilos of fresh food transported up the mountain every day? The secret: a 150-metre-long tunnel runs under the piste, connecting the mountain station with the Giggijoch mountain restaurant. And a Linde Factory Train FT10 Compact plays the leading role in this tunnel. This is an unusual application, as tugger train systems are usually found in industrial companies, where they transport a wide variety of goods inside production halls and outside in a modern, synchronized material flow.

Maneuverable enough for narrow supply tunnels
The Linde Factory Train Compact is a modular tugger train system. At the very front is a tractor, with various models available with towing capacities of up to 25 tons. Directly behind this is the initial module, to which one or more load modules are coupled. Pallet dollies are pushed into these load modules, locked and the load modules are then lifted. The great strengths of the Linde Factory Train are its maneuverability, small footprint and directional stability - all advantages that it demonstrates in the Sölden ski resort. Because there are several narrow passages in the supply tunnel: real bottlenecks, once it even goes around the bend in an S-shape. The track is also very narrow: there is often only a hand's width of space between the train and the wall. In addition, gradients of up to 15 percent have to be negotiated in the tunnel. How can the Linde tugger train still maneuver through the tunnel with its two load modules without bumping into anything? It's simple: all the wheels steer. In addition, thanks to neon yellow arrow markings on the walls, the driver knows exactly when to make which steering movement. The automatic tractor lock when the goods carrier is lowered and the reduced speed when cornering also ensure safety during operation.

The compact version of the Linde Factory Train has been in operation on the Giggijoch since fall 2016. Manuel Köll, Deputy Operations Manager at Bergbahnen Sölden, is delighted: "We were looking for a vehicle that could cope with the conditions, the weight and, above all, the incline," says Köll. The solution from Linde is perfect: "The trailers are unrivaled," says Köll, "we can load all the goods from the truck into the gondola and into the tugger train without having to change the goods carriers." Even the planning with the Linde experts was exemplary, says Köll. Linde even carried out a kind of "moose test" for the tugger train and rebuilt all the bottlenecks with pallets for test purposes. "The tugger train is the cream of the crop," confirms Sölden catering manager Robert Hanser. You can also order the yellow of the egg in Hanser's Giggijoch restaurant - the Linde Factory Train makes sure of that.

Linde Material Handling
Linde Material Handling, a KION Group company, is a leading global manufacturer of forklift trucks and warehouse trucks as well as a provider of services and solutions for intralogistics. With a sales and service network in more than 100 countries, the company is represented in all major regions of the world. In the 2017 financial year, the Linde MH EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) operating unit generated sales of around EUR 3.1 billion and employed around 11,000 people. More than 124,000 Linde brand trucks were sold worldwide in 2017.