ON THE RIGHT TRACK Greenbrier, US-based international supplier of equipment and services to global freight transport markets, has not only achieved significant growth in its core North American market, but has successfully ramped up its European manufacturing capability. Romana Moares reports.
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reenbrier experienced another successful year in 2021, with orders of 2,900 new railcars valued at $345 million. Its highquality backlog and manufacturing flexibility demonstrates Greenbrier’s leadership in core markets. The new railcar orders continue to reflect a broad range of railcar types including gondolas, tanks, covered hoppers and automobilecarrying units, indicative of broader industry trends that reveal a resurgent North American freight railcar market. William A. Furman, Chairman and CEO said: “Railcar orders received during the first two months of the second fiscal quarter demonstrate Greenbrier’s strength in our core North American rail business. “Almost all the orders originated from North America, where we have scaled our flexible manufacturing footprint to address the increasing levels of demand that we began preparing for months ago. Order activity for Greenbrier and industry-wide validates our
70 Industry Europe
recent investments in working capital to support the early stage of an extended recovery cycle for new railcar demand.”
European performance On the other side of the Atlantic, Greenbrier has also achieved remarkable progress. Freightliner UK, the British subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., has received 40 new flat wagons of the FFA-G type from the consortium of Wabtec Axiom Rail and Greenbrier Europe. The FFA-G series wagons were developed as a result of cooperation over more than two years between Freightliner, Wabtec and Greenbrier. This is the first batch of a 230-unit order placed by the British rail freight operator. The flat wagons were manufactured in Poland, specifically at the Wagony Świdnica plant, which is a part of the Greenbrier Companies, and the largest exporter of rolling stock in Poland.
