A €13m expansion of the Knorr-Bremse Systems for Rail Vehicles (Suzhou) Co Ltd plant has been completed, increasing production and testing capacity and providing additional space for the workforce of around 1 200 people. Equipment includes ‘the first ever fully-equipped inertia dynamometer, the like of which is otherwise only found at Knorr-Bremse's headquarters in München’. Customers will ‘benefit from the increased efficiency of these facilities thanks to their greater flexibility and improved delivery capacity’, said Knorr-Bremse owner Heinz Hermann Thiele at the opening ceremony. ‘Moreover, we want to develop the next generation of braking systems for rail vehicles; systems that take account of future requirements in the local market.’
Arriva UK Trains has appointed Icomera as its preferred supplier for the provision of on-train internet connectivity, as part of a 'wider digital train eco-system' which includes partnerships with EE and station wi-fi specialist Wi-Fi Spark.
Under a co-operation agrement signed at the XI International Rail Business Forum 1520 Strategic Partnership in Sochi, Titran Express is to establish a service centre in Tikhvin for the repair of SKF compact tapered axle wagon bearings. SKF will provide components, technical documentation and comprehensive support.
As part of a planned transition from being an in-house service provider to an original equipment manufacturer and international maintenance service provider, South Africa’s Transnet Engineering envisages 40% of revenue coming from outside Transnet group by 2021, compared to 12% of the current annual revenue of R10bn.
Russia’s United Wagon Co has placed 7 867 948 shares in a secondary public offering raising a total of 5·0bn roubles, increasing equity to 80bn roubles. ‘We are pleased to announce the successful completion of the SPO and welcome our new shareholders’, said CEO Roman Savushkin. ‘The company intends to use the raised capital to strengthen its balance and improve financial flexibility’.
