On track for multiple success Koncar Electric Vehicles is a market leader in the design and manufacture of electric rail and road transport vehicles. The company’s latest ‘low-level-entry’ multiple units represent a major success story for Koncar, along with its eco-friendly trams and other energy-efficient transport systems, as Philip Yorke reports.
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oncar Electric Vehicles was founded in Zagreb, Croatia in 1970 as part of a modern, integrated engineering group of more than 20 companies. From the outset the group has strived to produce outstanding energy-efficient electric rail and road vehicles and equipment. Headquartered in Jankomir, the largest industrial area of Zagreb, it operates from a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that extends to more than 20,000 square metres. This major manufacturing plant was designed specifically for the production and assembly of electric rail and road vehicles, and is strategically located close to the city’s main road and rail networks. The main business of Koncar Electric Vehicles today concerns the development, production and modernisation of electric vehicles of all kinds and their related components. These operations are supported by teams of highly qualified service engineers who provide ‘aroundthe-clock’ customer support services. Koncar Electric Vehicles owns all its extensive facilities and the equipment necessary to design, manufacture, overhaul, repair, 72 Industry Europe
reconstruct and modify electric rail vehicles and their components. This is in addition to the design and manufacture of infrastructure for its transport links with public road and railway networks.
Optimising low-floor accessibility Koncar’s latest eco-friendly vehicles offer superb travelling comfort, whether traveling by trams or railway vehicles. Koncar continues to set new standards in the practical ergonomics of these hard-working public vehicles. Their unique design and driving characteristics, along with their low floor access, has led to a major success story for the company, with order books at an all-time high. Koncar’s electric multiple units, (EMUs) are the flagship products of the group. The new models provide uniform space along the entire length of the train, without partitions or stairs, and floor height is optimal for 550mm high platforms. In addition, each passenger unit has up to eight doors on each side of the carriage,
