With ports shut down at the beginning of the war and the limited infrastructure of neighboring Western countries, the agricultural trading company Eridon decided to create its own means of exporting grain through land border crossings.
Therefore, last year Eridon purchased 40 Tagnpps grain hoppers manufactured by Greenbrier Europe, which were produced at the Romanian company Astra Rail (Arad). This number of cars is determined by the 600-meter train length limit (35 cars with the locomotive); five more units were received to replace the fleet in case of unscheduled repairs.
During the conference “Ukrainian Railways: Development and Infrastructure,” Deputy Director of the Logistics Department Sergiy Ryzhkov shared his experience in purchasing and operating 1435 mm gauge rolling stock from European partners.
In particular, after selecting and purchasing a fleet for its use, the shipper must:
– obtain a VKM – a code for the owner of wagons in the EU, which gives the right to use the fleet in Europe;
– choose a keeper company, a transport operator that will provide traction rolling stock on the required route;
– select a rolling stock maintenance company – Entity in Charge of Maintenance (ECM);
– pay for the transportation of wagons to the station of assignment.
The company’s main European providers of railcar management and maintenance services are CTL, Rail Cargo, PKP, Tankwagon (Poland), GATX, Ermewa (Germany), Interfracht (Czech Republic), and LTE (Slovakia).
The company now has its own experience, so it is advising Promvagontrans on the purchase of such a fleet for the European gauge.
In addition, the Group decided to build its own transshipment facilities on the border with Poland to export products to the ports of the Baltic States, Germany, and Austria (in Liuboml) and to the ports of Bulgaria and Croatia (in Batiovo).
A terminal in Liuboml with a storage capacity of 17,100 tons is already in operation. It has two sidings with a width of 1520 and 1435 mm and is serviced by the company’s own diesel locomotive. The complex can handle up to 260,000 tons of products per year, with the loading and unloading speed of 150 tons per hour.
In May this year, the company plans to commission a new terminal in Batiovo, Zakarpattia region, with a storage capacity of 27,300 tons. The new facility will also have two sidings of narrow and wide gauge and will be serviced by its own locomotive. The terminal will have a transshipment capacity of 500,000 tons per year.
Dmytro Demianchuk, Foreign Trade Logistics Manager of the Agricultural Products Division, noted that the process of building the transshipment facilities from the idea to launch took about six months.
Sourced from Rail EXPO