Based in Russia, Vagonmash has achieved a number of firsts in the railway car production sector; and with a commitment to innovation and excellence in design, the company is continuing to go from strength to strength.
Vagonmash Group of Companies consists of two plants in St. Petersburg: Vagonmash CJSC and Petersburg Tram-Mechanical Factory OJSC (PTMF). Both companies are among the oldest railway car manufacturers in Russia. The main activity of the plants has been and remains the design and manufacture of passenger rolling stock for railways, subways and Gorelectrotrans.
Vagonmash was founded in 1874 and released its first railway car in 1898. In 1946 it began series production of the country's first all-metal passenger rail car and in 1968 it began batch production of subway cars. In 2001, it produced the first subway train in Russia and the CIS utilising asynchronous traction drive, for the Kiev Metro. Throughout its history, the company has manufactured more than 15,000 units of rolling stock.
Today, Vagonmash manufactures dining cars; mail cars; baggage cars; passenger cars; and subway cars. Subway cars produced by Vagonmash operate in all the subway systems of Russia and the CIS countries, with the company's products also being deployed in Poland and Hungary.
In recent years, Vagonmash has successfully developed and implemented several significant projects in the railway car manufacture sector. In 2005, the Kazan Underground Railroad opened, for which Vagonmash supplied five new-generation four-wagon trains with asynchronous drive and microprocessor control system.
One recent project has been the manufacture of three modern dining cars for a new luxury train—the Express—which included a new interior, improved layout, exclusive design registration and additional kitchen equipment. In August 2007 the company agreed with one of its main customers—Russian Railways—the engineering proposal to develop and manufacture the dining cars; and by the end of December 2007, cars in the Express began to take their first passengers. Vagonmash has been building railway dining cars for use in branded trains since 2003—but this was its first time manufacturing luxury dining cars.
Another project, which ended in August 2009, was the supply of cars for the Warsaw Metro in Poland. Between 2008 and 2009, Vagonmash delivered 30 cars to Poland, which were specifically designed in accordance with European requirements and which passed all required test cycles. The Warsaw Metro subsequently purchased an additional 12 cars without a re-tender in 2009.
Vagonmash takes an active part in professional exhibitions and conferences and is a member of many professional associations such as the International Union of Public Transport, the International ‘Metro’ Association, the Association of Manufacturers of Railway Equipment, the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and others.
Quality is very important to Vagonmash. In 2007 the company achieved ISO 9001:2001 certification; and in 2008, an ISO 9001:2001 certification audit was successfully conducted according to the railway industry manufacturers’ standard. Certificates are annually renewed for the whole model range, with new production technology being introduced to improve quality, based upon information from consumers.
Vagonmash is currently implementing a major project to create the first modern fourth-generation subway train in the Russian Federation: Project NeVa. The technical parameters, design and basic design decisions are in accordance with leading world standards in the railway car building sector. Vagonmash embarked on NeVa in early 2007, when it signed an engineering development agreement with Škoda Transportation (Czech Republic). On July 10 2009, the company presented the first NeVa carriage; and the same year, the company won a place in the citywide annual competition for Best Innovative Project of St. Petersburg.
In late 2010, Vagonmash plans to complete construction and begin testing the first six-car NeVa train. The company’s management decided to build an industrial complex at PTMF specifically for the mass production of NeVa cars; and in 2012 it plans to complete construction of the complex and begin serial production. Investment in production and construction sites for NeVa mass production will amount to around RUB3 billion.
PTMF is one of the main producers of tram cars in Russia and the CIS countries, with its products operating in 24 Russian cities and two towns in the Ukraine. PTMF was founded in 1934; and in 1947, staff were the first in the country to build ‘bolsheemkie’ four-axle cars (model LM-LP-47). In subsequent years, construction repeatedly improved. In 1968, for the first time in Russia, the ‘trehvagonnye’ train, at 45 metres long, was launched in Leningrad. In 1986 full-scale production began of the ‘shestiosnikov’. In 1993, the plant developed the tram car model LM-93. In 1996, the LAN-86 was tested for the first time in Russia and the CIS, which utilised traction drives with transistor control system. In the late 1990s a series of prototypes of modern trams were run—LAN-97, LM-99 and LM-2000. In 2005, the upgraded model of the tram LM-99AM, ‘Solo’, was produced for the first time in Russia and the CIS, implementing a powerful system of energy-saving equipment using asynchronous traction motors.
PTMF has been a member of the International Association of Enterprises of City Electric since its inception in 1993. The company is also a member of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. PTMF is a leader in developing new models of street cars in the Russian Federation—products include the first six-axle car with 65 per cent low-floor quantity (model 71-152); the first low-floor eight-axle two-way trams (shuttle); the first one-way tram with asynchronous drive (model 71-154); and the first four-axle car with 40 per cent low floor quantity (model 71-153).
Mass production and deployment of the ‘Pioneer’, the first Russian six-axle articulated car with more than 60 per cent low floor quantity, began in St. Petersburg in 2007. Today, the streets of the northern capital operate 25 Pioneer trams. In late 2009 the first 71-152 tram car model was launched in Barnaul (Altai Territory).
In May 2008, after the full range of required tests was passed, the Interdepartmental Committee (IAC) permitted serial production of the low-floor tram model 71-153. Three months later, the first of these trains went into operation in the city of Tula. Currently, the 71-153 model is running in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula and Krasnoyarsk, as well as in Donetsk in the Ukraine.
Model 71-154—a low-floor, high-capacity tram for two-way traffic, was designed for the Metrotram light rail system in Volgograd. It can also be used in large metropolitan areas. Metrotram is a unique tram system, currently 14 kilometres long with 18 stations. Of these, three stations are built to Metro standards, as a stretch of 3.3 kilometres is underground. In 2009, PTMF designers developed a modification of the 71-154 model for one-way traffic from one control room. In autumn 2009 the first tram of this model was created for high-speed lines in Kiev in the Ukraine. The 71-154 models significantly increase the possibility of adapting PTMF’s model range of low-floor trams according to customer demand and for use in the LRT system.
Specialists from Vagonmash and PTMF are in constant contact with their customers. They collaborate to provide, develop and implement new technical solutions based on continuous monitoring of the parameters of railway cars, subway trains and trams.
