Used technically approved material and scarce items

Used material may be usable in certain types of railway installations instead of new material. Using used material meets two main needs:

• The need for certain items for corrective maintenance can only be covered by using used material because the items are no longer being manufactured. These items are referred to as scarce items.
• Material that is released during maintenance and investment contracts can have such a great financial value that it is advantageous to use used material instead of new material in certain types of railway installations.

The basis is that used material should primarily be used for corrective maintenance. Used material can also be used on request in reinvestment and investment projects in certain types of railway installations. The used material meets the requirements defined by the responsible system owner in the Swedish Transport Administration. Please note that scarce items may not be used for new builds or rebuilds.

This means that the product either is:

• Allowed to be sold in its existing condition
  (the material is deemed safe to use in track installations, but there is no guarantee of reliability), or
• has been renovated and/or checked (the material is deemed to be safe and reliable to use in track installations).

Guarantee

When used material is purchased from the Swedish Transport Administration, a one-year guarantee and liability period applies.

Repairable material - scarce items

Repairable material is material that has previously been used in installations that has been deemed technically possible and economically viable to reprocess into used material.

What repairable material consists of can be found in the "Repairable list"; see the Swedish Transport Administration's website, search words "Blanketter tekniskt godkänt material". There you will see a list of the items that the Swedish Transport Administration will keep as the employer's property in maintenance and investment contracts and, upon request, is transferred to the Swedish Transport Administration.

Scarce items are reused in railway installations so as to avoid stoppages

Scarce items are components used in railway installations that are no longer manufactured. There are a large number of scarce items in the Swedish Transport Administration's railway installations. The installations depend on the dismantling, repair and return of scarce items as spare parts.

Scarce items must not be used when new railways are being built or when the system is being extended. However, removing the old components in installations that are classified as scarce items will take time, and the need to be able to replace with other spare parts will remain for a long time to come.

Scarce items are the property of the Swedish Transport Administration and dismantled items must be returned to the Swedish Transport Administration, which, with the aid of suppliers, checks, renovates and quality tests the component and ensures that it is in stock, ready for use again.

It is of great importance that the spare parts flow of scarce items works well. Working procedures for the spare parts process itself have been defined and are described in a procedure description. The scarce items are classified, identified and listed. The scarce item lists are communicated to the Swedish Transport Administration's ongoing projects and the Swedish Transport Administration's contractors, who play an important role in making the spare parts flow work.