Ukraine: At the end of 2021, 1,948 freight cars were produced in the country, which is the lowest volume since 2015. However, the state’s fleet renewal program should enable the industry to emerge from the depression.
The amount of freight railcar production in 2021 was 31% lower than in 2020, while the decrease in production was recorded for the fourth year in a row. The largest number of railcars were produced last year by Kryukov Railway Car Building Works (1,013 units), Dneprovagonmash (461 units) and OMZ Karpaty (300 units).
A decrease in demand for freight cars produced by Ukrainian manufacturers has been observed since 2011. If in 2011 more than 48.3 thsd units were produced (33.2 thsd of them were delivered to Russia), then in 2015 this figure was about 1 thsd cars. This is largely due to the decision of Russia to stop accepting certificates of conformity for Ukrainian freight cars due to claims to the safety of rolling stock. In 2015-2018, the volume of production recovered against the backdrop of export orders from other countries, but then a decline followed again due to the growth in imports of Russian used freight cars to Ukraine from other countries of the 1520 mm gauge area. Thus, from 11.4 thousand cars, production decreased to 1.9 thousand in 2021.
In order to bring the Ukrainian car-building industry out of a depressed stature, last year the country’s authorities adopted a program to upgrade the freight car fleet. It provides for the production in 2022-2031 of 51.3 thousand cars (36.7 thsd gondola cars and 14.6 hopper wagons). It is assumed that the amount of investments from the national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) will be UAH 52.3 bln (about $1.8 bln USD), from private owners of rolling stock – UAH 68.1 bln (about $2.4 bln USD). This year, UZ intends to produce 1,496 freight cars (1,446 gondola cars and 50 hopper cars) at its own facilities – Panyutinskiy, Darnitskiy and Stryiskiy wagon-repair plants.
Freight car manufactured by Dneprovagonmash. Source: Dneprovagonmash
One of the stages of the program implementation should be the gradual limitation of the service life of freight cars. On February 1 this year, the corresponding order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine came into force. It assumes that the main criterion for the possibility of extending the service life of a freight car is whether it has a residual resource or the possibility of its restoration, which will be assessed by a set of diagnostic measures by a specialized organization. However, the renewal period cannot exceed the service life limit, which will gradually decrease.
So, according to the order, for gondola cars for 2022 it is planned to set a deadline at the level of 43 years and annually reduce it until it reaches 22 years in 2028, that is, the current standard service life. It is also planned to set a deadline for hopper wagons at 43 years for 2022 and reduce it annually until it reaches 30 years in 2028.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the regulatory change will make it possible to renew the cars fleet and support the country’s car building industry. In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in March 2021, Vladimir Zhmak, former head of the board of UZ, said that the introduction of a life limit for freight cars would create a “small” fleet deficit, ensure demand for cars and minimize security risks, as the Ukrainian railway network there are a large number of imported cars from Russia, the Baltic States, Moldova, Belarus, where service life restrictions apply. At the same time, the association of industrial enterprises “Ukrmetallurgprom” did not support this initiative of the authorities, believing that it would be more expedient to increase the requirements for the quality of repairs and tighten control over this area.
Currently, the fleet of freight cars on the Ukrainian railway network is more than 174 thsd units, about 95 thsd of them (55%) are operated with an exceeded standard service life. According to UZ, this leads to a 30-50% increase in current costs for the maintenance of cars, as well as a large number of accidents and rolling stock derailment.
