AAR certification of quality

Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant (part of UWC) supplies the large-size castings to equip the North American freight cars.


№ 8 (September) 2018

Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant − a core manufacturing facility that is part of United Wagon Company − supplies the large-size castings to equip the North American freight cars. The planned scope of supply is up to five thousand car sets.

In order to produce freight car castings for the North American market, TVSZ first had to pass a Quality Management System audit to confirm compliance with AAR Specification М1003, and also meet the foundry technical requirements for certification under AAR.

Sample castings made in Tikhvin successfully met static and dynamic structural test requirements necessary for AAR approval of the casting designs, confirming the quality of the product. These tests were carried in North America at an AAR approved facility CTLGroup testing center under AAR observation.

Freight castings made in Tikhvin are intended for bogies such as the Barber S-2-HD® and feature reduced weight design preferred by North American customers. The S-2-HD® is a standard 32.5 t axle load bogie approved for general use. So freight cars equipped with these bogie castings operate over the entire North American rail system, in the USA, in Canada and in Mexico.

Mickey Korzeniowski,
GM Wabtec Freight Products:

Wabtec seeks to partner with world class suppliers in order to deliver highly engineered products to our North American rail customers. TVSZ, with their state of the art foundry, fits that mold. Through our partnership with UWC we look forward to supplying high quality, durable truck castings and other products to the AAR market for years to come.