UWC’s new wagon designs

RAIL REVOLUTION

TANK CARS • RUSSIA’S UWC IS LEADING THE WAY IN IMPROVING RAILFREIGHT ECONOMICS WITH SOME RADICAL NEW DESIGNS AIMED AT HELPING SHIPPERS ENHANCE THEIR SERVICE LEVELS

RUSSIAN ROLLING STOCK manufacturer United Wagon Company (UWC) is benefitting from the expansion of the use of rail to move chemicals in bulk in the Russian Federation and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) markets. UWC, which manufactures rail wagons at the Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant, 200 km east of St Petersburg, has this year signed two significant deals with local rail carriers.

In March this year, the Texol group, one of Kazakhstan’s biggest railway operators, signed a contract for the supply of 400 articulated tank cars for the transport of LPG, primarily from Irkutsk Oil Company, one of Russia’s largest independent oil and gas producers. UWC says the new tank car, the 15-9541-01, outperforms all other models available on the CIS market. The design features provide significant savings, particularly on long routes without depots. The tank car has a cargo volume of 163.1 m3 and a payload capacity of 90 t, allowing the fleet size to be reduced drastically.

The tank car consists of two tanks connected by an articulated joint able to sustain increased lateral and vertical loads. Even at a car length of 24 m, the coupler design ensures unobstructed passing of both a single articulated car and an articulated car connected to standard cars along straight and curved sections of track. As the location of the tank fittings matches that of standard 12-metre cars, UWC’s articulated cars can be easily serviced at standard terminals.

Andrey Krivchenkov, executive director at UWC, says: “We have rolled out a railcar unmatched in the market. It allows [an increase in] their useful length and carrying capacity without having to spend much on renovating the infrastructure.”

Sergey Gorsky, a member of the board of directors of TexolTrans, adds: “Starting to ship freight in articulated cars represents a huge breakthrough for the entire rail freight industry. Operating these revolutionary cars will bring a raft of advantages to each party involved in the transportation process, from the freight owner to the owner of the rolling stock and the railway infrastructure operator.”

LONGEVITY AND PERFORMANCE In Russia, UWC has extended its partnership with industrial chemicals producer Shchekinoazot with a deal to supply 101 tank cars for the transport of liquid chemicals in bulk. The order includes 66 model 15-6880 tank cars for methanol transport and 35 model 15-6926 units for ammonia use. Their delivery will bring the total number of UWC cars in the Shchekinoazot fleet to 396.

“For several years now, the company has made robust efforts to renew its fleet of rolling stock, and the fleet of 295 tank cars previously acquired from UWC has been in active operation on the Russian Railways network and in the territories of neighbouring countries,” says Eugenia Khomyakova, director general at Shchekinoazot. “Due to the significant growth in volume of goods produced and transported as rail freights, the company is seeking to acquire new generation rolling stock in order to provide high levels of efficiency and maximum reliability.”

The latest tank cars offer increased payload (73 t for the 15-6880 model and 60.2 t for the 15-6926 model) and larger tank volume (88 m3 and 92.7 m3 , respectively). The overhaul mileage has also been increased to 1,000,000 km (8 years), considerably extending the lifecycle of the car. HCB www.uniwagon.com