Belarus: The ROLLINGSTOCK editorial team visited the site, discussed the fulfilment of current contracts, and studied all stages of tram car production together with the company’s Deputy General Director and Chief Engineer Dmitry Parkov.
Current contracts
BKM Holding was founded in 1973 as the Minsk tram and trolleybus repair plant. It started with overhauling rolling stock operated throughout the USSR. Tram production began in 1999 with high-floor AKSM-1M cars, with core components—bogies—supplied by the Ust-Katav Car-Building Plant. Later, the plant moved on to produce partially low-floor and then fully low-floor trams. To date, over 527 trams have been produced, including tram kits for final assembly at other sites.
Currently, the plant is executing three contracts for the production of trams. The largest is an order for 170 low-floor MiNiN trams for Nizhny Novgorod: 144 T811 single-car and 26 T856 three-car LRVs. Being implemented since 2022, the contract was signed with the Russian-Belarusian joint venture Nizhekotrans. Final assembly and other production processes are organised at the Foxbus plant in Vorsma.
According to Mr Parkov, tram kits for 133 single-car and 3 three-car trams have already been delivered to Vorsma. The level of localisation at the Russian site is gradually increasing. Today’s processes include independent manufacture of bodies and carrying out of other assembly work for single-car vehicles, while BKM Holding in Minsk supplies only the equipment package and motorised bogies.
Bodies of the three-car MiNiN tram for Nizhny Novgorod. Source: Aleksey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
Localisation at Vorsma is also improving for the three-car model: from the fourth T856 onwards, the Belarusian company supplies only bodies, bogies, and the electrical equipment package. “After the tenth car, the electrical equipment package and motorised bogie will remain with us” (that is, will be produced in Minsk — Editor’s note), Mr Parkov notes. “We do not transfer electrical equipment or blueprints to anyone for manufacture because this is our intellectual property. While the body can still be copied and produced, electrical equipment is something without which electric transport simply won’t run”.
Another current contract involving BKM Holding is the modernisation of nine trams for Novosibirsk with replacement of a high-floor body with a partially low-floor one. It is carried out by BKM-Sibir, the joint venture between the Belorussian company and the Novosibirsk region. “We deliver T701 tram kits” (a new body with mounted electrical equipment and finished interior — Editor’s note). Overhaul and restoration of motorised bogies are performed at BKM-Sibir in Novosibirsk”, Mr Parkov explains. He clarifies that essentially a new bogie is created: from the old one, only the frame, reduction drive and certain components are reused, while new electric motors, drives, and wheelsets are installed.
Body of a tram kit for Novosibirsk in the shot blasting chamber. Source: Aleksey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
Additionally, BKM Holding is fulfilling a contract signed in August to supply 12 single-car T811 trams to Barnaul. According to Mr Parkov, the localisation level of tram components stands at 93%. By customer request, a tram can be equipped with a battery for emergency operation, allowing travel up to five kilometres on battery power alone in case of contact network failure or power loss.
Stages of production
The first place to visit was the workshop for electronics and electric equipment, where wiring harnesses are produced. Mr Parkov noted that one tram needs around 15 km of wires. Wires, cables and lugs are bought separately. Further, they are marked and allocated per each vehicle, according to a model. The workshop also deals with the assembly of contactor modules, energy sensors, leakage current detection systems, media screens, auxiliary transformers, and other components. After the assembly, each unit is tested and checked at the electro-technical laboratory.
Workshop for electronics and electric equipment. Source: Alexey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
The production of a tram car itself starts with the cutting of metal tubes, which will form the frame. As there is no in-house foundry, metals are purchased from Russian or Belarusian suppliers on the exchange. At the mechanical workshop, the parts are machined before going to the workshop for body assembly, where the body frame is constructed. It consists of the underframe, side walls, front part and roof.
Body of a tram for Barnaul at the priming booth. Source: Alexey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
As soon as the frame is ready, the painting begins at a special section with five booths. The process starts with shot blasting, followed by electrostatically coating the surface with a primer. Further, the exterior panels are attached to the body frame, and it is moved to a paint booth. There, the tram car goes through filling with putty, degreasing, precoating and painting. Finally, it is left for drying in a separate booth. For additional protection, the car body is covered with a special coating inside an anti-corrosion booth.
Assembly of the interior of a tram kit for Novosibirsk. Source: Alexey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
The manufacturing proceeds at the assembly workshop with three production lines. There, heat- and noise-insulation materials are primarily applied to the body frame. The following week is dedicated to the installation of components in a particular order, with windows and interior panels also being attached at this stage. The car is equipped with doors from Camozzi Pneumatics, passenger seats from Sibeco, and pantographs of BKM Holding’s own production.
Trams for Barnaul (right) and tram kits for Novosibirsk (left) at the assembly workshop. Source: Alexey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
At the final stage, a low-floor bogie is placed under the frame, attached and connected. The bogies for low-floor trams are also produced at BKM Holding’s mechanical workshop. They are equipped with Belarusian reduction drives, electric motors (72 kW each) from the Sarapul Electric Generator Plant, axles and wheelsets from ChelyabTransService, disc brakes from Kortex, and track brakes from the V. I. Kozlov Minsk Electrotechnical Plant.
Tram reduction drive from BKM Holding. Source: Alexey Stolchnev/ROLLINGSTOCK
The constructed tram cars are tested on a special 200-metre test track. Dynamic testing is undertaken to verify running characteristics and the work of the brake systems. The tightness of a car is checked in a rain test chamber.
Developing production capacity
The Minsk plant produces trams as well as trolleybuses and electric buses. All types of the rolling stock can be simultaneously observed at the conveyor, from welding of bodies to final assemblies. Mr Parkov claims that the facility would produce up to 30 units per month if it concentrated on tram production only.
Meanwhile, the plant’s production capacity can be augmented. “Currently, we are developing an investment project dedicated to the renovation of the existing facilities and construction of a new body welding workshop. According to our estimates, that would allow a twofold increase of the plant’s output,” Mr Parkov says.
