IRS seeks to expand its activities along the entire railcar value chain

In the 1980’s and 1990’s there were substantial freight wagon manufacturing capacities in Europe, as these had been tailored for the replacement needs of the then existing rolling stock. After the collapse of the communist systems however, freight car demand collapsed in the entire former Soviet-block, one of the main rail markets in Europe, which widened the manufacturing over-capacity and shifted production to the lower labour cost countries of CEE (Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic).

  The demand for freight wagons has seen a steady decline ever since the 1980’s up until 2006. The absence of technical harmonization is one of the reasons for the drop in market share of rail against road in Europe in recent decades. The EU responded by devoting significant resources to encouraging interoperability: a train’s ability to run on any stretch of the European rail network. Achieving complete rail interoperability in Europe is a medium to long-term target. Nevertheless, many of the issues essential for interoperability primarily affect railway’s operating rules and can be dealt with in the short term.

 Thus, from January 2006, all of the European Network became accessible to international freight operators and from January 2007 domestic competition in any EU state was allowed to all operators. The European rail freight sector, now in theory completely liberalised, has seen a sustained rise in rail freight volumes as a result. Replacement of ageing fleets, increased economic activity and growth in intermodal container traffic leads IRS to estimate the railcar demand in Europe for the next 5 years to be between 15,000 and 20,000 wagons per year. With the total capacity currently in the market place of between 10,000 and 12,000 wagons demand is outweighing supply. IRS continues to research and invest in new technologies to maintain its leading position in the market. These technologies range from new machinery, such as laser or plasma cutting tables, to state of the art blast and paint booths. In addition, over the past two years Engineering Drawing, Modeling and Finite Element Modeling software has been updated to Solid Works which is seen as one of the leading companies the industry.

Today, IRS employs almost six thousand direct workers, who are responsible for the production of a wide portfolio of railcar types for the majority of the leading European rail companies. IRS has the following strengths in the European market:

·     IRS is the leading freight railcar manufacturer in Europe, with particular strengths in tank wagons, covered hoppers, box wagons, container wagons and steel carrier wagons.

·     IRS can leverage on low cost operations and improved efficiency by channeling each standard product to the most effective manufacturing production line.

·     IRS can realise economies of scale and synergies through centralised Quality, Procurement, Engineering and Sales.

·     IRS can produce the widest range of railcars in the industry, which allows taking advantage of changing industry trends and developing market opportunities.

·     IRS has certifications of the top ranking operators in Europe.

·     IRS enjoys long-standing and strategic relationships with many of its clients, including the majority of the European railroads.