ASTRA Arad, also known as Întreprinderea de Vagoane Arad (IVA), is the name of a group of industrial engineering and rolling stock companies originated in Arad,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Operating as a single entity until 1996, the company then split into other independent companies, ''Astra Vagoane'' for freight cars production (integrated later in Astra Rail Industries), Astra Vagoane Călători for passenger coaches and trams, and Astra Bus for bus and trolleybus manufacturing.

History

Early history

Johann Weitzer’sche Maschinen-Waggonfabrik

Johann Weitzer (born in 1832, died in 1902) was an Austrian skilled blacksmith and businessman. In 1854, he founded his own workshop, which expanded quickly, even producing vehicles for the construction of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. The main products were railway wagons and arms for Austrian use. In 1872, he transformed his enterprise into a

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

, which later merged with two other companies to Simmering-Graz-Pauker. In 1891, Johann Weitzer founded, as a subsidiary of the Austrian company in the Hungarian part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, the ''John Weitzer Engine- & Waggon-building & Iron Casting Joint-stock Company'' (; ). It produced locomotives, railway waggons, tramcars (such as 17 items for Temesvár (today

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

)), and, since 1903, Weitzer railmotor, Europe's first successful series of railcars.

MARTA

The automobiles manufactured in Arad was a licensed production of Westinghouse 150 cars from 1909 to 1912. In 1912 the plant was taken over by

Austro-Daimler Austro-Daimler was an Austrian car manufacturer from 1899 until 1934. It was a subsidiary of the Germany, German ''Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft'' (DMG) until 1909. History In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The company so ...

and renamed to MARTA, the acronym for ''Hungarian Automobile Joint-stock Company Arad'' ( Hungarian: Magyar Automobil Részvény Társaság Arad). After the edition auf 500 automobiles, civil production ceased in 1914, due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Acsev14.jpg, Weitzer Railmotor at the

ACsEV The ACsEV (Aradi és Csanádi Egyesült Vasutak, English language, En.: Arad & Csanad United Railways) were a Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, Hungarian joint-stock railway company. Till 1920, the network had a length of 391 Kilometre, km. ...

Martatax.jpg, MARTA taxi Marta autobus.jpg, Marta bus in Arad in 1909 MARTA 35-45 HP Dublu-Phaeton karosszériás.jpg, Marta car Marta Trucks under construction.jpg, Marta Trucks under construction in the factory

ASTRA Arad

In 1921, after the dissolution of the Austria-Hungary and the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

, the two companies, located in

, merged to form ''ASTRA Automobile & Waggon Factory'' ( Romanian: Fabrica de automobile și vagoane Astra). This company from 1922 to 1926 also manufactured some automobiles and lorries, but the main production were rail vehicles.

Întreprinderea de Vagoane Arad (IVA)

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the company was nationalized and became Europe's biggest manufacturer of freight cars, as ''Întreprinderea de Vagoane Arad'' (IVA). The factory also produced passenger coaches and ensured the entire fleet of coaches for

Bucharest Metro The Bucharest Metro () is an underground rapid transit system that serves Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It first opened for service on 16 November 1979. The network is run by Metrorex. One of two parts of the larger Transport in Bucharest, B ...

. It produced railcars for internal market and exported to all five continents. In 1990, the company was renamed as ''ASTRA Vagoane Arad''. With privatization, in 1998-2000, it was split into specialists for the various branches. The production of freight cars, Astra Vagoane Arad, was sold to Trinity Industries, which sold it to International Railway Systems (IRS), seated in Luxemburg, but mainly based on plants in eastern Europe. In November 2010, Astra Vagoane Arad and the two other Romanian subsidiaries of IRS went bankrupt, and reformed under the name Astra Rail Industries (ARI) in 2012. In 2016, The Greenbrier Companies and ARI agreed to form a joint venture, 75% owned by Greenbrier. The new business is to be named ''Greenbrier-Astra Rail''. The other descenders of ASTRA Arad are (Astra Passenger Cars) and Astra Bus. InnoTrans 2016 (018) Travelarz.JPG, Grain hopper car made by Astra Rail Industries 2018-10-22 (984) 37 84 7829 520-7 at Bahnhof Herzogenburg, Austria.jpg, GATX tank car (Astra Rail Industries) Regiojet Astra Bmpz 013 Praha Smichov 01.jpg, Astra Vagoane Călători passenger car produced for RegioJet Arad tram 2017 03.jpg, Astra Imperio tram produced for CTP Arad (Astra Vagoane Călători in partnership with

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a division of Siemens. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedicated to rail technology and intelligent traffic systems, Railway Electrification, ...

) Temeswar, Armonia-Tram, 1.jpeg, Rebuilt GT4 Armonia tram for STP

(Astra Vagoane Călători in partnership with Electroputere VFU) 2017 Trolleybus in Kolozsvár.jpg, Astra Citelis 18 trolleybus for CTP

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

(Astra Bus in partnership with Iveco Bus)

References

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External links

Astra Vagoane Călători

Astra Rail Industries

Astra Bus

cimec.ro
Primele automobile române fabricate în România (in Romanian)

Astra Vagoane Arad (in Romanian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Astra Automobile and Waggon Factory Arad, Romania Companies established in 1891 Motor vehicle manufacturers of Austria-Hungary Rolling stock manufacturers of Romania Tram manufacturers Privatized companies in Romania Companies of Arad County de:Astra Vagoane Călători#Fabrica de automobile și vagoane Astra