EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has approved United Wagon Co as a potential supplier, following an audit of the Russian company including its All-Union Research & Development Centre for Transportation Technology and the Tikhvin wagon factory businesses.
The Tikhvin plant has also obtained EN 15085 Welding of Railway Vehicles & Components certification following an audit by TÜV Rheinland.
‘UWC can compete as an equal in international markets and deliver the range of products that operators need at high levels of quality’, said UWC’s Deputy CEO for Business Development Maxim Kuzemchenko on August 8. ‘We hope that Deutsche Bahn's assessment will serve as a signal to the whole of the European market. UWC is now the only freight car manufacturer outside the European Union which has the right to supply cars to companies in Europe.’
DB Quality Engineer Jens Baselt said the German operator was ‘seeking partners that meet our criteria in terms of quality, security of supplies and pricing policy all over the world’, adding that the audit of UWC would expand its pool of potential wagon and components suppliers.
