UWC and operator Trans-Servis sign supply contract for food-service tank cars

PJSC “Research and production corporation “United Wagon Company” (“UWC”, the “Group” or “Company”) (MOEX: UWGN), Russia’s largest manufacturer of freight cars¹, and freight rail operator Trans-Servis have signed a contract on the supply of a batch of 15-6900-04 tank cars that are to be delivered until the end of the year. The 15-6900-04 tank car was the first food-service car model on the Russian market having a stainless steel tank mounted on bogies with a 25 t increased axle load.

The 15-6900-04 car appeared in UWC’s product portfolio in 2019. The manufacturing facility is TikhvinSpetsMash, a freight car building enterprise.

The railcar was designed to meet the specific requirements of the food transportation business. Food items transported by rail include finished products and raw materials. To ensure their safety, the 15-6900-04 car uses a tank lined with stainless steel, which forms no substances harmful to humans when it comes into contact with food. The list of cargoes that the tank car can carry covers 30 items, including molasses and vegetable oils. The tank is of a bent-axis type to ensure that the cargo is discharged to a maximum, and has an outer steam jacket that allows unloading viscous products at a variety of temperatures.

Owing to the increased volume of its tank (56 m³) and a higher load capacity (74.4 t), the car is able to accommodate up to 10 t more of freight in comparison with other similar models. This reduces the size of the car fleet required for transportation by almost 10%.

The 15-6900-04 model is mounted on 25 t axle load bogies, which significantly increases maintenance intervals and operational safety. The service life of the tank car is 30 years.

Vasily Maklakov, Director at Trans-Servis: “Today, we can see not only railways competing for cargoes with other modes of transport, but also tank cars competing with tank containers. We have decided that for now, the optimal and most profitable option for us is delivering products in tank cars. When it comes to tank containers, there are issues, yet unresolved, related to the development of extensive infrastructure for their maintenance and servicing on the network. It is for this reason that we have opted for the new Tikhvin-produced stainless steel tank car equipped with 25 t axle load bogies. We believe that the emergence of new generation cars in the transportation of food items will significantly improve the segment’s performance. This is our first experience of cooperation with UWC, and we hope to see it growing further in future."

¹Data sourced from INFOLine-Analytics: https://infoline.spb.ru/news/?news=203409