United Wagon Company and Volga Paper Company sign car supply agreement

Within the scope of 2018 International Exhibition for Transport and Logistics Services and Technologies “TransRussia/TransLogistica”, United Wagon Company (UWC or “the Holding”) (MOEX: UWGN) and Volga Paper Company, one of the largest pulp and paper plants in Russia, signed an agreement for the supply of 98 increased payload capacity cars of various types.

Under the agreement, 80 platforms (19.5-meter) for the transportation of timber and timber products and 18 gondola cars for the transportation of woodchips will be supplied to the industrial enterprise in the first half of 2019.

Both cars are unique in their technical and economic parameters. The rolling stock was developed by the All-Union Research and Development Centre for Transportation Technology and will be built at the TikhvinSpetsMash plant (part of UWC).

Alexander Genin, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volga Paper Company, noted that the task of updating transport and logistics is fundamental to the pulp and paper enterprise's development strategy, along with major projects to modernise its production processes. He said that the company's management is focused on increasing the effectiveness of all business processes, an integral part of which is the timely provision of raw timber materials to the paper mill.

The new generation model 13-6895 flat car with a loading length of 18.85 m is characterised by an increased payload capacity of 72.5 tonnes and an increased loading volume of up to 155 m³ (44 m³ more than a standard timber platform). Its expanded cubic capacity in combination with its increased payload capacity allows an increased load of up to 40% while remaining within a short wheelbase tariff.

The platform can transport up to 95 cubic meters of timber products at a time. Thus, its increased loading provides savings on fleet needs while retaining transportation volumes: 70 model 13-6895 platforms can transport the same volume of timber as 100 standard platforms.

The design reduces the weight of the platform and increases its reliability and durability. An additional competitive advantage of the timber platform is its ability to carry a wide range of cargoes and transport timber stacks from 3 to 6 meters in length. The car ensures the transportation of timber without forming a heaped load, and therefore, without the associated downtime and costs. Such characteristics significantly reduce the cost of transporting a tonne of cargo. The platform's service life is 40 years.

The new generation model 12-6995 gondola is new to UWC railway holding's product lines. The car is intended for the transportation of various types of chips and currently possesses the best body space (211 m³) and payload capacity (70 t) on the market, accommodating up to 30 cubic meters of extra cargo in each car.

Tariffing the chip car as a specialised type of rolling stock allows increased loading without additional tariff expenses. Convenient hatches ease cleaning. The car’s service life is 40 years.

A prototype has been built, which will undergo a series of preliminary and certification tests for obtaining an FBO “RC FRT” (Federal Budgetary Organization “Register of Certification on the Federal Railway Transport”) certificate.

Both models have bogies with an axle load of 25 tonnes. The increased overhaul period of 800,000 km (or 8 years) reduces the cost of the life cycle of the rolling stock three times.

“Cargo transportation using the new generation cars, which have no peers on the market, will allow us to reduce logistics costs, increase the reliability of deliveries and increase the volume of transported raw materials in line with the new development strategy of the company,” said Aleksei Starun, CEO at Volga Paper Company. He added that the decision to purchase UWC’s cars was made in connection with the company's plans to increase production and raise operational efficiency. Until 2018, Volga Paper Company relied upon a leased fleet of cars.