VTG signs new maintenance contract with Railcare

Birmingham, 16 September 2011. VTG Rail UK, a subsidiary of VTG Aktiengesellschaft (SCN: VTG999), Europe’s leading wagon hire and rail logistics company, has signed a new maintenance deal with Railcare for the upkeep of its wagon fleet.

Following the end of its previous maintenance contract, VTG took the opportunity to completely review the way it maintained its fleet and in particular was keen to learn from the success achieved on the passenger side of the rail industry. The objective was to find a maintainer with a very proactive approach to managing wagon availability, obsolescence, and the unplanned problems that can happen on the rail network.

VTG implemented a new structure incorporating separate maintenance packages for Wheelsets, Airbrake Equipment, Bogies and RID Tank Testing.

Three of the four – Wheelset, Airbrake and Bogie Maintenance – have been awarded to Wolverton-based RailCare, with Tank Testing to be awarded later in the year.

VTG’s Managing Director, Rob Brook, said: “The key thing is improving fleet availability. It’s not just about replacing a bogie, but doing it in a time and manner that ensures our customers get the best possible availability from their wagon fleet.

“I’m confident that the deal with RailCare will help VTG deliver even better wagon availability.”

The five-year contract is a strong, performance driven deal with demanding KPIs, and a focus on continuous improvement to service.

Rob Brook from VTG and Rob Baxter, Managing Director of RailCare, signed the contract and celebrated the deal with a specially-baked celebratory cake in the shape of a VTG Tank wagon. The contract came into force on 1 September.

Ends

VTG Rail UK, a subsidiary of VTG Aktiengesellschaft (SCN: VTG999), is one of Europe’s leading wagon hire and rail logistics companies. The company has the largest private wagon fleet in Europe. Globally the fleet consists of about 50,000 rail freight cars with a focus on tank cars and state of the art high capacity freight cars and flat cars. In addition to the hiring of wagons, the Group offers global tank container transport and comprehensive multi-modal logistics services mainly around rail transport.

 With the combination of its three interrelated divisions Wagon Hire, Rail Logistics and Tank Container Logistics VTG offers its clients a high-performance platform for international transport of their freight. The Group has many years of experience and specific know-how in particular in the transport of liquid and sensitive goods. Its customers include numerous well-known companies from almost all industrial sectors such as, for example, chemicals, mineral oil, the automobile or paper industries.

In the financial year 2009 VTG generated revenue of EUR 581.5 million and operating profit (EBITDA) of EUR 149.4 million. Via its subsidiaries and affiliates the company, which has its head office in Hamburg, is mainly present in Europe, Asia and North America. As at 31 December 2009, VTG had 963 employees worldwide in consolidated companies. Since June 2007, VTG AG has been listed on the official Prime Standard market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and also on the SDAX (WKN: VTG999).

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