UWC to deliver a batch of wood chip cars to Belarus

PJSC «Research and production corporation «United Wagon Company» (RPC UWC, the Group or the Company) (MOEX: UWGN), Russia’s largest manufacturer of freight cars¹, and GantsevichiDrevStroi, LTD, a Belarusian producer of wood and wood chips for the energy and pulp and paper sectors, have sighed a contract for the supply of a batch of wood chip gondola cars. The freight cars, equipped with 25 t axle-load bogies, will be delivered to the Belarusian company in the first quarter of the next year.

The gondola car, Model 12-6995, belongs to the new generation of wood chip cars and offers higher load capacity of 70 t and larger car body volume of 211 m³. These parameters enable transporting up to 70 t of wood chips in each car, almost 15 t more than in its common counterpart. The significant gain in load capacity results in fleet and rail tariff savings of up to 20%.

With a length of 23.8 m, the wood chip car can pass smoothly through straight and curved sections of track, including small radii, both alone and coupled to other freight cars. The freight car is designed for easy and comfortable operation. For instance, it has cleaning hatches measuring 1,091 mm x 1,509 mm in its side walls to allow for quick removal of cargo residue after unloading, and a set of drainage holes prevent moisture from accumulating inside. Ladders fitted on the car’s end walls enable safe access to the interior.

The wood chip car is mounted on bogies with an axle load of 25 t, owing to which the car features an extended service interval of up to 8 years (or 1 million km). In contrast, its common counterparts mounted on 23.5 t bogies become due for their first depot maintenance 3 years (or 210 thousand km) after being built, and for the subsequent depot and overhaul service after 3 years (or 110-160 thousand km) of operation, respectively. The service life of the 12-6995 gondola car is 40 years against 22 years for its common-type counterparts.

Alexander Shulga, Head of GantsevichiDrevStroi, LTD: “We are pleased to be working with United Wagon Company. We expect that the use of Tikhvin wood chip cars will allow us to transport our products most efficiently. It is well known that the railcar-related costs account for a significant share of the cost of wood chips. Our market is currently dominated by common-type rolling stock. Seeking to improve the efficiency of transportation, we have turned our attention to new special-purpose railcars manufactured in Tikhvin, which meet the needs of the existing market.”

¹As reported by INFOLine-Analytics: https://infoline.spb.ru/news/index.php?news=205975