UWC and Shchekinoazot sign a supply contract for batch of methanol tank cars

PJSC «Research and production corporation «United Wagon Company» (RPC UWC, the Group or the Company) (MOEX: UWGN), Russia’ largest manufacturer of railcars¹, and Shchekinoazot, a leading producer of industrial chemicals, have signed a supply contract for 132 new generation tank cars for methanol. The entire batch is to be shipped by the third quarter of this year inclusive. The railcars will be operated in the fleet of Transport directorate SPA «Azot».

The tank car, Model 15-6880, is equipped with 25 t axle load bogies and has increased load capacity of 73 t and enlarged tank volume of 88 m³. Owing to its advanced design, the tank car can be loaded almost 2 t more of cargo than its common-type counterpart mounted on 23.5 t axle load bogies. In addition to savings on the fleet size, using the UWC tank car enables its owner to reduce railcar maintenance costs and decrease the cost of transporting a tonne of cargo.

The design of the tank car and the arrangement of its main components ensure ease of operation, particularly during inspection, maintenance and repair. A protective cover on the manhole landing platform protects the tank fittings and the load from unauthorised access. The bent-axis design of the tank enables to achieve maximum discharge of liquid cargoes.

The freight car has a maintenance interval of up to 1 million km (or 8 years), longer than that of its common-type counterparts. The service life of this Tikhvin tank car is 32 years.

Since 2013, the UWC Group has delivered nearly 600 freight cars to Shchekinoazot, including tank cars for methanol and other liquid chemical cargoes and hopper cars for mineral fertilisers.

Evgenia Khomyakova, Chief Executive Officer at Transport directorate SPA «Azot»: “The long experience of operating rolling stock manufactured in Tikhvin suggests that the fleet needs to be developed primarily through the use of new generation railcars. The operational and economic results we obtain allow us to achieve ambitious goals and move forward even in difficult conditions. The operational reliability shown by Tikhvin railcars encourages us to look forward to deepening our partnership with the UWC Group.”

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