Railway PRO

The Research and production corporation United Wagon Company and Dessa, a transport leasing company, have signed a contract for the supply of another batch of 60-foot flat cars for transporting timber.

UWC will deliver the freight cars to the company in Q1 2021.

The 13-6895 flat car offers various economic benefits achieved through an increased load capacity of 72.5 tonnes and a larger body volume of 158 m3. Its specifications allow it to transport timber, whether light or heavy, at a maximum efficiency.

“UWC has been our partner for several years now. As our cooperation is growing steadily, we look forward to the Group’s further expanding its assortment of flat cars. Both our customers and we have had successful experience operating Tikhvin flat cars and appreciated their high performance. For this reason, we have intentionally chosen to put new generation freight cars at the core of the lease portfolio we are developing. This batch of flat cars, just as the previous one, will be leased to rail operator Sodex,” Vyacheslav Pogudin, CEO at Dessa said.

The flat cars produced by United Wagon Company can accommodate some 40% more freight compared to a similar 40-foot-long flat car widely available in the market.

The Tikhvin flat car offers a loading length of 18.85 m, which means it can accommodate three timber stacks, each 6 meters long, while remaining within the “short-base” tariff range. Therefore, the increased load capacity and the tariff scheme applied allow for a significant reduction of transport costs per tonne of freight.

The car is fitted with uniform cross-section side racks to minimise unused space when transporting packaged cargoes and to protect these from damage.

Owing to its 18-9855 bogies with an axle load of 25 tonnes, the flat car has an increased maintenance interval of up to 1 million km, or eight years, longer than that of similar standard models. The service life of the car is 40 years.