In 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) built 528 freight cars at its own facilities, which was a record figure for the last five years, the company’s press service said on Thursday.
It is noted that, in particular, 427 fitting platforms were manufactured. The company also started mass production of 50 dump cars and 50 hopper dispensers.
In addition, in 2023, at its own facilities, UZ built a grain carrier adapted for transportation on a 1520 mm gauge with a 1435 mm European gauge conversion. Most of the components and materials used for its construction were produced in Ukraine, the report says.
In 2023, UZ enterprises also increased the production of crushed stone by 33% (to 2.7 million tons) and sleepers by 6% (to 867 thousand units).
The production of reinforced concrete structures increased by 10.5% compared to 2022, to 6,937 thousand cubic meters, which was also a record for the last five years.
Among other things, last year UZ launched 47 new product lines. The company manufactured 37 thousand units of various products: girders and side girders, container stops, brake shoes, shock absorbers for the absorber, aluminum door frames, compressors, and generators for passenger cars. This allowed the company to save about UAH 120 million on external procurement, the company says.
“Plans for 2024 include a 15% increase in the volume of overhauls of locomotives at UZ plants and 8% increase in the volume of electric trains, an increase in crushed stone production through orders from third-party customers, and the development of new products and technologies,” Ukrzaliznytsia said in a statement.
Earlier, UZ announced the launch of a freight car fleet renewal program. The company planned to build 1,496 thousand freight cars in 2022 at its own car repair plants – Panyutyn, Darnytsia and Stryi: 1,446 thousand gondola cars and 50 grain carriers.
It was also reported that on December 28, 2021, the Ministry of Justice registered the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure No. 647, which launched a large-scale program to renew the freight car fleet of Ukraine in the period 2022-2031, introducing a phased limitation of their service life in a loaded state for as long as 10 years and bringing this period to the standard. The service life of gondola cars is reduced from 44 years to 22 years, and that of grain carriers from 45 years to 30 years.
In addition, this initiative envisaged the launch of a railcar construction program at Ukrainian railcar manufacturers. The volume of investments in the railcar industry was estimated at over UAH 120 billion.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, taking into account the material losses inflicted on Ukraine by the Russian Federation and Belarus, will not return their freight cars to Russian and Belarusian owners, Deputy Director of the Department of Commercial Work of Ukrzaliznytsia Valeriy Tkachev said on his Facebook page on Thursday night.
According to him, over the past 24 hours, the owners of Belarusian and Russian railcars began to contact the Center for Transport Logistics of Ukrzaliznytsia with demands for redirection and return of their rolling stock, which is now in Ukraine.
“Looking at the material damage caused to Ukraine – the aggressor country (Russia) and its ally (Republic of Belarus); and most importantly, given the thousands of innocent victims killed by the invaders… all rolling stock, cargo and other things will not be returned to the occupying countries!” Tkachev said.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia in January-November 2020 updated 11,903 freight cars, most of all high-sided cars were repaired – 5,953 units.
According to the press service of the company, 773 platforms, 479 covered wagons, 563 tanks, 1,066 grain carriers, 411 cement carriers, 468 hopper dispensers were also repaired during this period.
As reported, Ukrzaliznytsia in 2021 plans to allocate 3 times more funds compared to 2020 for renovation, overhaul, modernization of rolling stock and infrastructure construction.
Ukraine’s railways operator Ukrzaliznytsia in January-August 2018 (as of August 23) bought 2,287 freight cars, including 450 from third-party manufacturers, the company’s press service reported citing Finance and Economics Director Andriy Riazantsev.
“Ukrzaliznytsia’s investment in rolling stock upgrades is ahead of the company’s income. This year we have already spent UAH 1.5 billion more in investment than the sum of total deductions from freight transportation tariffs to our investment account,” he said.
In general, since early 2018, Ukrzaliznytsia has already purchased 2,287 freight cars, of which 1,837 wagons built on the company’s own production facilities.
According to Riazantsev, 20% of over 27,000 open-top wagons forming the company’s working rolling stock is high-quality equipment.
At the same time, the company says Ukrzaliznytsia’s rolling stock in the Ukrainian market of transportation by rail accounts for only 40% of the total stock available.
As reported, Ukrzaliznytsia in the six months of 2018 built 1,740 freight cars, or more than 34% of the total number of all built in this period in Ukraine.
In 2017, it bought 2,721 freight cars, including 2,606 built at the company’s own production facilities.
