Recent deals and tenders in the freight wagon market.
Canada — Canadian National (CN) announced completing the acquisition of 1,650 freight wagons by the end of 2025.. The fleet to be be expanded with 750 hoppers, 600 ore wagons, and 300 double-stack autoracks as part of the operator’s investment programme. Neither manufacturers nor wagon models have been disclosed.
South Africa — Freight operator Traxtion intends to purchase around 920 wagons. The investment in rolling stock will total ZAR 1.6 bln ($95 million), with purchases from local manufacturers. Traxtion also plans to allocate ZAR 1.8 billion ($107 mln) to acquire 46 second-hand Wabtec locomotives from New Zealand’s KiwiRail.
Flat wagons in the fleet of Freightliner. Source: Porterbook
Great Britain — Freight operator Freightliner has ordered 150 flat wagons from British manufacturer WH Davis. The company, part of US-owned Genesee & Wyoming, will expand its fleet with vehicles of a new design based on 40ft platforms. The rolling stock is being acquired with financial support from leasing company Porterbrook, with deliveries starting in Q1 2027.
Germany — BBL Logistik has ordered 200 Facns hoppers from Turkish manufacturer Vako. The contract covers design, production, TSI-compliant certification for European standards, and warranty obligations.
Round timber wagons from VR FleetCare. Source: VR FleetCare
Finland — Forestry company UPM Forest has ordered more than 150 wagons from VR FleetCare. Deliveries of Snps round timber wagons are scheduled to begin in late 2026 and conclude by 2028. It is reported that VR FleetCare, part of VR Group, has production capacity for up to 300 wagons per year.
Batch of gondola cars by UVZ for Transgarant. Source: Uralvagonzavod
Russia — Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has reported to dispatch gondola and tank cars to customers. Batch size and models are undisclosed, but manufacturer footage shows some gondola cars with semi-rigid couplings and Federal Freight Company livery. Such couplings are used on 12-5991 Ural gondola cars, for which a serial order was placed in August; others bear Transgarant branding. ROLLINGSTOCK analysts note that UVZ’s main 2025 output comprises 12-196-02 gondola cars and 15-150-04 petroleum tank cars.
