Under limited time allotted for servicing railway tracks, high-performance track machines and systems are gaining in importance. Quick and trouble-free operation of these machines defines the intensity and traffic safety on railway lines. For repair and routine maintenance of railroad tracks over the railway system of Russia, continuous-cyclic liner-straightening-tamping machines, the Austrian Duomatic 09-32 CSM machine and its Russian analogue, the PMA-1 machine, are widely used. The reserves for raising the processing capacity of those machines still are not exhausted. For instance, the time required for accomplishing technological operations can be reduced through modernization of the satellite’s hydraulic drive. An analysis of the work cycle of the machines has shown that the main factors worsening the finishing and straightening quality of railway tracks are as follows: an insufficiently high processing capacity offered by the machine, a high height to which the track panels need to be lifted; a large volume of ballasting operations needing to be performed; and the wear of the working equipment. The purpose of the present study was modernization of the satellite’s hydraulic drive of Duomatic 09-32CSM and PMA-1 machines aimed at enhancing the processing capacity and ballast tamping quality offered by these machines in combination with the use of self-diagnostic means intended for preventing sudden failures of satellite drives. The operating cycle of Duomatic 09-32 CSM and PMA-1 surfacers has been analyzed. Reserves for raising the productivity of the machines have been estimated. The hydraulic diagram of the satellite drive of the surfacers has been modernized. Basic parameters of the vibration action due to the ballast hammers on the ballast in the upgraded machines have been identified. The main parameters of the upgraded satellite drive have been estimated.