
More than 2000 European standards, including those for railway products, were introduced in early 2024 as part of European integration
The Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe is ready to supply railway wheels and other products manufactured in accordance with the DSTU EN 13262 standard, which will be introduced in January 2024 as part of European integration, to the domestic market. One of the key areas is the integration of railway transport into the EU standards.
This was announced by Oleksandr Roslyk, Technical Director of Interpipe’s Railway Products Division, during his speech at the Ukrainian Railways: Development and Investment conference.
Preparations for Ukraine’s accession to the EU involve a set of systemic reforms and harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with EU regulations. Since January last year, the company has been preparing enterprises for certification and production of railway products in accordance with the requirements of DSTU EN standards.
“At the beginning of 2024, more than 2000 European standards were introduced in Ukraine using the “cover” method, in particular for railway products – wheels, axles and wheelsets. The adoption of European standards in Ukraine as national DSTU EN for all types of railway products allows us to start creating unified railway connections between Ukraine and the EU countries with the provision of safety requirements in operation,” said Oleksandr Roslyk in his speech.
One of the differences between the railway standards DSTU GOST and the European standard DSTU EN is the existence of different steel grades. In the first case, grade 2 is used, while DSTU EN 15718 and DSTU EN 13262 have five grades for different types of wheels (separately for passenger, freight and high-speed trains).
Interpipe’s products are certified according to almost all applicable international standards and the company now offers wheels, axles and wheelsets that comply with DSTU EN 13262 to the domestic market. The production of railway products in accordance with the requirements of European standards adopted in Ukraine will ensure
- unification of rolling stock;
- unification of railroad infrastructure;
- free movement of rolling stock in the territory of the European Union and Ukraine;
- improved safety and reliability in operation;
- increase the service life of the rolling stock.
In total, Interpipe currently supplies wheels, axles and wheelsets to 60+ countries. In international markets, these products are presented under the KLW brand and are supplied to world-famous companies such as Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, and Deutsche Bahn. Interpipe engineers have extensive experience in developing their own designs of wheels, axles and wheelsets, which are known as Ultimate in the European Union. For two decades, the company has mastered the production of more than 250 standard sizes of solid-rolled wheels – from 800 to 1250 mm.
As previously reported, at the end of 2024, Interpipe fulfilled ahead of schedule a contract to supply 10 thousand wheels for freight cars to Indian Railways, an Indian state-owned enterprise.
Despite the military challenges, Interpipe continues to invest in its production facilities. During the war, the company invested more than $83 million in product quality and new production lines, including a pipe rolling shop in Nikopol. The company is committed to meeting the demands of customers around the world.
Interpipe is an international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company that ranks among the top 10 seamless pipe producers in the world and among the top 3 producers of solid-rolled railway wheels.