Railway track-maintenance machinery

Nominated for the European Inventor Award 2012 in the category Lifetime achievement

Dr. Josef Theurer

Inventor: Dr. Josef Theurer

Country: Austria

Invention: Railway track-maintenance machinery

Company: Plasser&Theurer

Austrian inventor and entrepreneur Josef Theurer is a pioneer in the field of railway construction. He has more than 500 inventions to his name, and the company he established with a partner in 1953, Plasser & Theurer, is now the world market leader for railway track-maintenance machines. Among his countless inventions is an innovative track-borne machine for installing overhead lines, patented in 1988, which broke new ground and made railway construction considerably quicker and easier.