Belarusian Railway and RPC UWC enter into strategic partnership

Belarusian Railway (BZD) and Research and Production Corporation "United Wagon Company" (UWC) announce that they have entered into a strategic partnership to service freight cars equipped with innovative Barber bogies in Belarus. The agreement has been announced during the 59th meeting of the Council for Railway Transport’s Committee of specialists in rail car affairs from railway administration boards of the CIS and Baltic states held in the town of Tikhvin.

As part of this partnership, service facilities for freight cars with improved technical and economic characteristics equipped with Barber bogies have been established at all of BZD’s wagon depots, where BZD has agreed to provide maintenance services. Staff at BZD’s wagon depots have undergone training in how to maintain and repair rolling stock equipped with Barber bogies. Also, a warehouse for storing Barber bogie components has been set up at Saturn-1’s production facilities in Zhitkovichi, the Gomel region, to ensure that components can be quickly delivered to the repair site in Belarus.

In 2013, freight cars equipped with Barber bogies received permission to run interstate services. There is currently an extensive rolling stock servicing network, with more than 40 centers located across Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Alexander Archipenko, Head of Belarusian Railway’s Railcar Operating Department, commented: "This partnership is beneficial for all those involved in Belarus’ transportation industry and it increases the competitiveness of the country’s railway service. Our fleet of innovative rolling stock is growing steadily and we hope that our joint efforts will help to accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions for the railway network."

Dmitry Losev, Deputy CEO for Technological Development at UWC, added: "Enhancing the service network for new generation freight cars with our partners BZD is an important step towards further developing rail transport in the 1520 gauge area, particularly in Belarus. Last year, the first cars equipped with Barber bogies were manufactured at Mogilev Carriage Works, and today Belarusian Railway is operating more and more new generation rolling stock. We believe the partnership between UWC and BZD has excellent prospects, and we intend to continue expanding the service network for freight cars equipped with Barber bogies across the CIS and Baltic states."