Knorr-Bremse and Russian Railways RZD Plan to Set Up Joint Venture for Braking Systems
23 September 2008
Today at the Innotrans fair in Berlin, Russian Railways RZD and Knorr-Bremse signed a declaration of intent, governing the establishment of joint venture. The agreement envisages expanding the joint development efforts that began in 2006 and forming a joint venture company to manufacture braking systems to meet all RZD's requirements. Knorr-Bremse will be responsible for the operational management of the joint venture and will be the majority shareholder. The declaration of intent was signed by the president of RZD, Wladimir Jakunin, and by the chairman of the supervisory board of Knorr-Bremse AG, Heinz Hermann Thiele.
The Russian railway market will offer substantial growth potential in the next few years. In the context of the Russian Federation's 'strategy for the development of rail transport until 2030', adopted by the government a year ago, the Russian state railway company is planning the large-scale expansion and modernization of its freight and passenger transportation capacities. For example, the existing rail vehicle fleet is to be entirely replaced by 2030. RZD intends to order over 23,000 locomotives, almost one million freight cars, 30,000 passenger coaches and more than 24,000 multiple units, representing a total investment of some €85 billion. In order to implement this strategy, RZD is looking to work closely with leading rail technology companies.
Knorr-Bremse has been present in the Russian rail market for over 40 years. Back in the 1960s, Knorr-Bremse's former main plant in east Berlin was already supplying brake equipment for Soviet passenger coaches. Today, Knorr-Bremse equipment can be found in Russian locomotives and multiple units for the export trade, as well as in car sets in the Moscow Metro.
Over recent years, Knorr-Bremse has made multiple adaptations to its systems in order to meet Russian requirements, in particular concerning low-temperature capabilities. Several components have already been successfully certified or are already in series production. This year, for the first time, Knorr-Bremse will be supplying the brake equipment for 150 advanced Russian passenger coaches of a new generation, with more due to follow in 2009. Knorr-Bremse also supply the complete braking system, air conditioning, door systems and other electronic components for the two new Russian highspeed trains Velaro (Siemens) and SM6 (Alstom).
Russian Railways RZD is one of the biggest railway companies in the world with 85,500km of track. Almost 1.3 billion passengers travel via Russian Railways annually, as well as 1.4 billion tons of freight. With 1.2 million employees, the company posted revenues in 2005 of 748.7 billion rubles (approximately €20.6 billion) and is one of Russia's largest corporations. RZD is growing fast, keeping with the booming national economy, and is planning to expand the country's central transportation corridors, including the west-east link from Europe to Asia.
The Knorr-Bremse representative office in Moscow opened in 2005.
