The Ukrainian Railways public joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) added 907 gondola cars to its fleet of freight cars from the beginning of 2018 to February 26. The company bought 400 of these gondola cars and built the rest at its own railcar manufacturing facilities, the CFTS reports, citing Ukrzaliznytsia’s acting Board Chairman Yevhen Kravtsov.
"Ukrzaliznytsia’s fleet of freight cars has increased by 907 gondola cars. Of these, 400 were purchased and the rest were built at the company's own railcar manufacturing plants. We have reached a high rate of renewal of our freight-car fleet, thanks to the well-coordinated work of all our branches. The production chain is working efficiently, from supply of spare parts and organization of production to achievement of specific results," Kravtsov said.
The Ukrzaliznytsia divisions that manufactured the largest numbers of gondola cars are the Paniutin railcar repair plant (272), the Darnytsia railcar repair plant (150), and the Stryi railcar manufacturing plant (85 units).
The Kryukov Railcar Building Works and the Popasna railcar repair plant supplied the remaining 200 freight cars.
Kravtsov also said that Ukrzaliznytsia built 2,604 railcars at its own facilities in 2017.
As reported, the Kryukov Railcar Building Works increased production of freight cars in January by stopping production of passenger cars.
In total, Ukrzaliznytsia plans to renew a third of its operating fleet of gondola cars in 2018. According to Kravtsov, Ukrzaliznytsia plans to build 3,600 gondola cars at its own manufacturing facilities and buy 3,450 by the end of this year. The company also intends to upgrade 100 container flatcars.
