Safe journey Greenbrier

SAFE JOURNEY

Greenbrier’s operations in Europe remain stable in the wake of the global pandemic. The freight railcar specialist with factories in Poland, Romania and Turkey continues its journey to becoming the market leader in European rail freight.

Greenbrier, headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading international supplier of equipment and services to global freight transportation markets. Greenbrier designs, builds and markets freight railcars and marine barges in North America.

The US company’s European operation was established in 2017 when Greenbrier’s European business in Świdnica, Poland, and Astra Rail’s manufacturing operations in Arad, Romania, were brought together to form an end-to-end freight railcar manufacturing, engineering and repair business, serving customers across Europe and in the nations of the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council).

In 2018 Greenbrier Europe significantly extended its reach across the continent with the acquisition of a majority interest in the Turkish railcar builder Rayvag. The Turkish company now operates as an integral part of Greenbrier Europe, together with Poland’s Wagony Swidnica and Romania’s Astra Rail. As well as manufacturing railcars Rayvag also provides maintenance services for railcars and manufactures bogies and spare parts for railcars in the region.

Although Greenbrier Europe’s key sales markets are mainly the countries of the European Union, in the future, exports to the Middle East are set to pick up momentum. The management is focused on promoting the sustainable and long-term development of the group in its evolution into a technologically and financially strong market leader in Europe’s rail industry. Its long-term thinking takes precedence over short-term profit-driven considerations.

European foothold

Greenbrier European facilities boast a long tradition and wide-ranging experience in the sector. The history of Wagony Świdnica, located in southwest Poland, started in the 1920s when the plant was built as a repair shop for the German Federal Railway. Wagony Świdnica was

acquired by the Greenbrier Companies in 1998, and, in order to become a full-service company model, expanded its repair capability by acquiring two Polish repair shops. Wagony Świdnica has manufactured rail-freight wagons for customers from Europe, North America and the Middle East.

The history of the Romanian facility in Arad dates back to 1891 when the Austrian industrialist Johann Weitzer founded the Johann Weitzer Maschinen, Waggonbau und Eisengießerei Aktiengesellschaft. The Romanian plant became part of Greenbrier’s operation in 2016, when the Greenbrier Companies and Astra Rail agreed to form a joint venture, 75% owned by Greenbrier, incorporating both of the company’s European operations as Greenbrier Europe.

The Polish facility is now in the process of delivering a major contract, delivering the first batch of flat wagons to PKP Cargo, Poland’s largest rail freight operator. The vehicles have been manufactured at Greenbrier’s plants in Poland and Romania. 44 wagons were delivered in April 2021 as the first batch of a 220-unit order that was concluded in December 2019. The entire deal will be completed by the end of 2022. According to the technical specifications, each wagon can carry several configurations of containers at a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour: four 20-foot, two 40-foot or two 30-foot boxes. The wagons are equipped with composite brake blocks of the K-type.

Meeting demand

In April, the parent company published its 2nd quarter results, summarising the outlook in the wake of what was described by the management as one of the most challenging years in the group’s history.

William A. Furman, chairman & CEO says: “Our near-term outlook is becoming increasingly optimistic as rail fundamentals improve. Rail loadings are up year-to-date, driven by increased traffic in grain, intermodal and other categories. Proposed environmental and other regulations in both North America and Europe should support secular demand for rail as a growing mode for freight transport. Fiscal stimulus and proposed infrastructure legislation are expected to further add to demand.”

Prospects look particularly good in Europe, where the railway sector has demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 crisis its resilience and adaptability to the new situation. The contribution of rail to reducing CO2 emissions was reflected in the European Commission’s strategy for sustainable and smart mobility at the end of 2020, in which it sets an objective to double rail freight traffic by 2050.

As today rail is the most sustainable mass mode of transport and increasing the modal share of rail freight in the short term is considered fundamental to winning the battle against climate change, Greenbrier Europe can expect increased demand. Building on its solid track record, the Group will be an active participant in the move towards the EU’s longer-term sustainability objectives.

Mr Furman concludes: “Greenbrier’s ability to adjust production capacity to meet our market outlook enables us to rapidly ramp manufacturing as we earn new railcar orders. We are ready to meet increased demand.” n