Tank car

United Wagon Company (UWC) has commenced construction of its new tank car production facility in Tikhvin, Russia.

During the construction phase, the company is expected to make an investment of more than RUB3bn ($86.6m) on the proposed plant and may employ 1,000 people.

The new plant is spread over an area of around 80,000m² and once operational, will be able to produce approximately 3,000 tank cars on an annual basis.

The company will manufacture tank cars equipped with bogies with an increased axle load of 25t, which make them suitable for the transportation of chemical products, LPG and petroleum cargoes.

In addition to classic models, the plant will also manufacture a new range of tank cars with improved technical and economic parameters. These will have a greater loading capacity of approximately 74t, tank volume, increased maintainability and lifetime, compared with standard models.

UWC CEO Roman Savushkin said: "UWC is entering the market, which is new for the company and ranks second after that of gondolas. We expect steady demand for tan cars and especially for special limited-series rail cars."

The centre for transportation technologies, a design bureau managed by UWC, has been contracted to develop the car designs for the new plant.

Image: Tank cars on a Russian fire train. Photo: courtesy of Timur Mamedrzaev.