Moscow, 2 February 2017. UC RUSAL (commercial code in Hong Kong Stock Exchange 486, in Euronext RUSAL/RUAL, in the Moscow Stock Exchange RUAL/RUALR), one of the leading global producers of aluminium, announces the completion of certification procedures for the only railroad hopper-car made from aluminium alloys in Russia.
The project (model 19-1244) was developed by RUSAL together with wagon-building company ‘RM Rail’ and ‘Arkonik SMZ’, and is designed to transport more than 50 types of bulk cargo. Approval for mass production was given in accordance with technical regulations of the Customs Union.
The aluminium hopper-car has a whole range of unique characteristics in comparison with its rivals: resistance to corrosion, higher loading capacity (it exceeds competition by 3-9 tonnes and constitutes 79 tonnes), service life of 32 years, 6 more years than rival products. Thanks to the balance between these characteristics, the transport costs saved by tonne of cargo constitute on average up to 10%.
According to RUSAL’s calculations, 5.7 tonnes of aluminium is needed for the structure of one hopper-car.
The next stage to start operation of the hopper-cars will be to produce the test batch at the AO ‘Ruzkhimmash’ plant (part of ‘RM Rail’). After this, the cargo operators will lead a regulated run of the aluminium wagons.
‘The aluminium hopper-car is a unique type of wagon for Russian railways with a range of advantages which will be highly assessed by cargo carriers. For RUSAL a hopper-car alone is not enough, so together with its partners the company is working on creating a wagon-tank and open wagon from aluminium alloys. Currently, calculations are being done for economic projects with development of concepts for the market”, stated RUSAL’s Head of Sales in the Russian and CIS Markets, Roman Andrushin.
“Already at the stages of prototype development the consumers are showing interest in the new model, primarily due to the improved technical characteristics of the hopper-car, which make long-lasting and profitable. Now, we are planning to send 70 wagons to our partners for test operation, and to continue developing other types of rolling stock from aluminium alloys”, announced CEO of ‘RM Rail’, Pavel Ovchinnikov.
Statement:
‘RM Rail’ Company (www.rmrail.ru)is one of the leading integrated producers of specialised cargo rolling stock of full cycle for railways. It is part of the ‘Russkie mashiny’ corporation. The main companies are AO ‘Ruzkhimmash’, OOO ‘VKM-Steel’, PAO ‘Abakanvagonmash’, AO ‘Neon’, OOO ‘VKM-Service’, OOO ‘RM Rail Trans’, and AO ‘RM Rail Engineering’. The companies are located in Mordovia and Khakassia.