United Wagon Company wins DB wagon tender

27th November 2018

United Wagon Company (UWC) have today announced that they have won an international tender by Deutsche Bahn (DB) to supply Sggrs80 articulated container flat cars. The order comprises a total of 130 of these cars with delivery expected in the first half of 2020. The agreement also contains an option of a further future order.

This is a major breakthrough for the UWC export strategy having worked successfully on a technologically challenging project to design and manufacture rolling stock that meets DB’s stringent requirements. The interest shown by DB confirms the quality of the UWC product and shows that it now has the necessary expertise to build railcars for foreign markets.

The 80-foot articulated Sggrs-model flat car has a payload capacity of 108.6 tons, enabling it to transport various standard-sized ISO containers, tank containers and swap bodies with a gross mass up to 36 tons. The flat car is designed to be more light-weight than standard analogues now operating in Europe. The bogies have an axle load of 22.5 t and the car is intended for operation on the 1435-mm rail gauge. It will be manufactured at UWC’s production site in the town of Tikhvin (Leningrad Region). Assembly certification to TSI standard will be carried out by the end of 2019.

Maxim Kuzemchenko, the Managing Director at UWC, commented: “Designing a car for Deutsche Bahn was a very ambitious objective for UWC. It would be possible to enter the European market offering cars with a simpler construction for ordinary freight companies, but we decided to offer something more sophisticated, because DB sets extremely high standards for the quality of processes and implementation. Within a year, we carried out R&D work, worked on the design with our German colleagues, studied existing European standards, prepared our manufacturing facilities and personnel, and built links with international suppliers."

"I am confident that this project offers our company huge potential on the international market. Our capabilities to produce 20.000 freight cars annually will help European customers to cover their needs in situation where local producers are overbooked with orders. We are ready to offer all types of rolling stock for the transportation of gases, bulk and other cargos to customers around the world.”

Martin Kretschmer, Head of Procurement of Deutsche Bahn commented: “I am very pleased to welcome UWC as a new supplier for Deutsche Bahn. We rely on strong suppliers such as UWC to help us further increase our rail freight business. We look forward to receiving first freight cars from Russia.”

Author: Darren Porter
Image: United Wagon Company