UWC strengthens its market position in Azerbaijan

PJSC «Research and production corporation «United Wagon Company» ("RPC UWC", the "UWC Group" or "Company") (MOEX: UWGN), Russia's largest manufacturer of freight cars¹, is developing cooperation with the Azerbaijani rail operator ATU TRANS, LLC. A batch of flatcars (60 feet long) for timber, mounted on bogies with an axle load of 25 t, will be sent to the operator by February 2022.

UWC's rolling stock entered the Azerbaijani railway market in 2020. In the same year, UWC delivered batches of box cars and timber flat cars to the operator ATU TRANS as part of the first contract.



The flat car, Model 13-6895, has a loading length of 18.85 m, increased body volume of 158 m³, and higher load capacity of 72.5 t. These features significantly reduce the transportation cost per tonne of cargo, as they enable the railcar load to be increased by almost 40% compared to the car’s standard 40-foot long counterparts widely spread on the market, and to carry three stacks of timber, each six metres long, while remaining eligible for the short-base tariff rate. The flat car can be efficiently used to carry both lightweight and heavy timber.

The side racks have a constant cross section to minimize unused space when transporting stacked cargoes and prevent damage during loading and unloading operations. The floor design provides for convenient cleaning and prevents cargo residues from falling between the rails.

The flat car is mounted on 18-9855 bogies with an axle load of 25 t, which significantly increases the car's operational reliability. Owing to the application of innovative bogies, the maintenance interval of a Tikhvin freight car is extended up to 1 million km (or 8 years), while its counterparts running on standard 23.5-tonne bogies are sent for their first maintenance check upon completing 210 thousand km (or 3 years after construction), with subsequent scheduled maintenance checks to be held after 110-160 thousand km run (or 3 years). The service life of the 13-6895 flat car is 40 years against 32 years for its counterparts.

A network of service centres offering current uncoupling repairs and scheduled maintenance of freight cars manufactured in Tikhvin has been arranged in the 1520 space, and warehouses fully covering the need for spare parts and components have been set up.

Rafig Shikhamirov, Chief Executive Officer of ATU TRANS: "New generation cars appeared in our company's fleet only last year. However, our experience of operating them gives us confidence that further development of the ATU TRANS fleet will be based on the application of innovative rolling stock. Reliability, increased load capacity and ease of operation are the criteria we rely on in our choice of cars. The rolling stock produced by UWC meets all our needs and allows us to excel among our competitors.

¹Data sourced from INFOLine-Analytics: https://infoline.spb.ru/news/index.php?news=205975