TikhvinChemMash completes 1000th tank car

The rail tank car manufacturer, TikhvinChemMash (part of United Wagon Company) has completed work on its 1000th car since its inception in December 2015. The jubilee car is part of a contract for new generation rolling stock to transport alcohol. The batch of 25 cars is being dispatched to the buyer, Rosspirtprom, which is the largest Russian producer of ethyl alcohol from natural raw materials. The Rosspirtprom transport subsidiary, Magistral, will take delivery of the cars.

The model 15-9993-01 car for transportation of ethyl alcohol is a new UWC product. Bogies have axle load of 25 tons and carrying volume has been increased to 88 cubic meters, ensuring best-possible use of 73.3 ton load capacity (8 tons more than standard cars). The 15-9993-01 model also surpasses existing analogues by standard time between depot repairs, which is 800,000 km or eight years, against 110,000 km or two years for analogues. The service life of the new car is 30 years.

Innovative design features of the tank car include the use of polymer materials on contact surfaces of the sill. Unlike the wooden beams used on standard cars, these materials are resistant to degradation by the environment, improving reliability and safety.

Serial production of the new tank car has been certified compliant with technical provisions of the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union “On the safety of the rolling stock”.

Anastasia Lavrentieva, press secretary of Rosspirtprom, commented:

"The purchase of new tanks is part of comprehensive work to update our alcohol transport fleet, driven by the growth of demand for ethyl spirit from companies making alcoholic products. Volumes have increased significantly over the past year and a half."

In the last couple of years there has been an acute shortage of rolling stock for ethyl alcohol transportation in Russia due to the write-off in 2015-2017 of about 40% of the fleet as no longer fit for service (nearly 350 cars were written off). Consignors were forced to mobilize rolling stock, which is not specifically designed for alcohol transport. Cost effectiveness suffered as a result.