United Wagon Company certifies two articulated gondola car models

Research and production corporation “United Wagon Company” (UWC, the Holding or the Company) (MOEX: UWGN), Russia’s largest manufacturer of freight cars¹, has received certificates from the Register of Certification on the Federal Railway Transport Federal Budgetary Organization for two models of six-axle articulated gondola car running on bogies with a 25 t axle load. The increased load per unit length capacity makes it possible to raise the network carrying capacity and speed up the freight car turnover time.

The articulated gondola cars with loading capacities of 117 t (model 12-6877 with a solid bottom²) and 114.5 t (model 12-6877-02 with unloading hatches) have been rolled out onto the market. The articulated design increases the freight car loading capacity by 52–56%, while its load per unit length is 23% higher, allowing for a significant boost to the efficiency of freight transportation, as it raises the network carrying capacity by 40%. Train mass can therefore be increased without any change in its length.

The articulated gondola cars are equipped with an articulated joint, which combines two sections of the railcar and ensures unhindered passage through curved sections of track, including curves with small radii. The railcars are also equipped with three 18-9855 bogies with a 25 t axle load each. The braking system, which has a separate bogie brake, increases the efficiency and reliability of the braking process compared with traditional brake systems. The operating mechanism of the brake system in the model 12-6877-02 gondola car is integrated into the bogie design, reducing the tare weight of the build as well as the incidence of brake adjustment during operation. UWC operates an extensive network of service centres across the 1,520-mm track gauge area for servicing and repairs to articulated car bogies.

Both models of the freight car are compatible with public and private infrastructure. The gondola cars can be unloaded using any tandem rotary car dumper installed at major Russian ports, as well as the modern VRS-125 and VRS-134 models.

Nina Borisenko, Head of Marketing at UWC, said: “All the signs are there, looking at current market sentiment, that large companies will opt for high-performance articulated cars in the medium-term future. The need to improve efficiency in rail freight transportation is long overdue. Furthermore, this direction in the development of railway transportation is a response to the Railway Transport Development Strategy to 2030. With the train lengths unchanged and without an increase in the axle load, articulated railcars are a means of increasing the network’s carrying capacity by 1.5 times through an increase in the train weight to 9,000 tonnes, which expands the capacity of limiting sections of the track without any additional investment in infrastructure, reduces the required fleet size, and overcomes both seasonal and market fluctuations in rolling stock demand.”

¹Data sourced from INFOLine-Analytics: https://infoline.spb.ru/news/?news=162724

²Consists of two well-shaped sections equipped with cleaning hatches