Network Rail and Voestalpine Strengthen Long-Term Business Relations
21 December 2005
Network Rail, the owner and operator of Britain’s railway infrastructure, and the leading European rail manufacturer voestalpine have confirmed their close co-operation by entering into a further multi-million pound, long-term rail supply agreement.
The new contract is worth around £12–16 million (€18–24 million) in the first year which corresponds to a market share of about 25% of the UK railway market.
Klaus Meusel, board member of the voestalpine Railway Systems Division said: “We highly appreciate and wish to thank Network Rail again for having selected voestalpine as its long-term rail supplier from the continent. voestalpine’s position in Great Britain is doubtlessly the result of our target oriented creation of customer benefit in the past years. We have a global reputation as a front runner in terms of technology, quality and logistical reliability. Actually, ultra-long unwelded rails have been supplied by voestalpine to the UK since 2001, that is quite a long time before our competitors made up their minds to invest in similar rail production.”
Frederick Kübler, board member of voestalpine Schienen adds: “In the meantime, we are a pioneering force in the fields of production and services. For example, the most modern single-purpose rail rolling mill worldwide will be commissioned by us in Austria in February 2006, while our German plant will continue production at full capacity. We will also give further dynamic support to Network Rail in its various economic and technical optimisation programs with new life cycle cost- and RAMS-related concepts. In this connection we are very happy that Network Rail has decided to benchmark its suppliers against specific key performance parameters for the future. We look forward to the establishment of this new system, since objective assessment will facilitate comparisons, and contribute to ensure lasting maximum benefit for customers, operators and users.”
The voestalpine Railway Systems Division operates two single-purpose rail rolling mills in Austria and Germany. With the largest rail section programme worldwide, mass production of ultra-long rails of up to 120m in both plants, unique just-in-time supply logistics, and the availability of an extensive family of rail steel grades (including Head Special Hardened, “HSH®”) and other services, voestalpine is a global rail business leader.
