Arkhbum to receive new batch of Tikhvin-produced flat cars for transporting timber

Research and production corporation “United Wagon Company” (UWC, the Group or the Company) (UWC, MOEX: UWGN), Russia’s largest manufacturer of freight cars¹, has signed a new car supply contract with Arkhbum, a major operator on the railway services market. The operator will receive 25 flat cars on bogies with a 25 t axle load for the transportation of timber by the end of Q1 2020. Taking into account the latest deal, the number of UWC-produced cars in Arkhbum’s fleet will rise to 305 units.

A batch of model 13-6852-02 (40 feet) flat cars will once again be shipped to the operator. The rolling stock is designed for the transportation of timber products and is noted for its increased loading capacity of 74 t and higher loading volume of 122 m³. The design of the car means that it can be loaded without creating a ‘freight cap’ when transporting heavy loads of timber. The side posts with a uniform cross-section reduce ‘idle’ loads and prevent the freight from being damaged during loading and unloading operations, which is especially important when transporting packaged timber.

The flat cars are equipped with model 18-9855 bogies with a 25 t axle load, allowing for significant cost reductions on servicing the rolling stock throughout its life-cycle (40 years). The car’s maintenance interval has been increased up to 1 million km (or eight years).

Vasily Knyrevich, CEO at Arkhbum, commented on the deal: “We are systematically increasing the share of innovative cars in our company’s fleet. The Tikhvin-produced flat cars with an increased loading capacity are more beneficial economically to us when compared with using standard rolling stock. After all, the more freight we can transport in one trip and the more reliable the fleet’s performance is, the more successful we can be in a competitive field.”

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