VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The UZZhM Urals Railroad Machinery Plant is a subsidiary of the Sinara Transport Machines Company, which is a member of the Sinara Group. Today UZZhM manufactures direct current, mainline freight locomotives with 2ES6 engines and upgrades VL11 direct-current freight locomotives. UZZhM's largest customer is Russian Railways.
In 2004, Sinara Group began construction on a high-tech production facility to manufacture the next generation of locomotives at a mixed-used industrial park in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, a suburb of Yekaterinburg. Work progressed very quickly, and by the end of 2006, a prototype for the 2ES6 engine had been built. The project then attracted the support of the United Russia Party, which named the 2ES6 a United Russia party project. After extensive testing, the 2ES6 electric locomotive received a Certificate of Conformity from the Russian Federal Railway Transport Certification Register in 2008. The company is also certified according to ISO 9001 international standards. In the spring of 2009, a new manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 60 two-section locomotives was launched at UZZhM. The facility consists of 17 production units for metal machining, wheel assembly, welding, assembling and testing basic locomotive components, and applying and drying paint. It also contains over 300 pieces of modern production equipment produced by leading international manufacturers.
UZZhM hopes to launch another, similar production facility by 2011 to bring its estimated annual production capacity to 120 two-section locomotives a year. Twenty-four new, direct current locomotives manufactured by UZZhM with 2ES6 commutator engines are already in service on the Sverdlovsk railway.
UZZhM has outsourced production of 50% of the components and functional units for the new locomotives to 65 Russian enterprises, 20 of which are located in the Urals region. Experience gained from UZZhM will be used to establish a new innovative enterprise, which will be the centre of a new regional industrial park.
The company's plans for 2010 include introducing a prototype of a new electric locomotive fitted with a 2ES10 induction-type motor.
UZZhM is currently working with leading international locomotive manufacturer Siemens to develop a new locomotive that will be heavily standardised to the 2ES6 series and draw on 2ES6 technological solutions related to running gear and pneumatic equipment. At the same time, joint work is under way to design the new locomotive's traction equipment, electric components and steering systems. This sort of international cooperation will allow Russia to import cutting-edge technology to expand the model range.
