Astra Rail Industries is a

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 ...

rail vehicle The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can be ...

manufacturing company. It was formed in 2002 as the ''International Railway Systems'', part of the

Trinity Industries Trinity Industries Inc. is an American industrial corporation that owns a variety of businesses which provide products and services to the industrial, energy, transportation and construction sectors. Now, the company has five business groups, wh ...

European assets, adding further manufacturing plants in Romania, and a part forging plant in the Czech Republic. In 2012, IRS's three main Romanian manufacturing facilities were reformed under the name ''Astra Rail Industries'', and other activities were sold to third parties. In 2016,

The Greenbrier Companies The Greenbrier Companies is an American publicly traded transportation manufacturing corporation based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, United States. Greenbrier specializes in transportation services, notably freight Railroad car#Freight cars, railcar ma ...

and Astra Rail agreed to form a joint venture, 75% owned by Greenbrier, incorporating both the company's European operations as ''Greenbrier Europe''.

History

;International Railway Systems (2002-2011) ''International Railway Systems'' was founded in 2002. The company acquired MEVA SA in

Drobeta Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. "Drobeta" is the name ...

, Romania from

in 2002. In 2004 ROMVAG SA in

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

was acquired. In 2006 IRS bought the European assets of

(USA) for $30 million. The acquired businesses were

Astra Vagoane Arad 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, Arad, Romania. Operating as a single entity until 1996, the company then sp ...

(Romania), MSV Metals Studénka (Czech Republic), and works in

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

, Switzerland and

Poprad Poprad (; ; ) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. The largest town of the Spiš region and the largest of all towns in the vic ...

, Slovakia. The resultant company in 2007 had three main business divisions: the rail manufacturing division consisted of Astra Vagoane Arad, Meva SA, and Romvag Caracal plus metal forgings manufacturer MSV Metal Studenka; rail wagon fleet company Servtrans; and the marine division through the holdings in Severnay shipyard. In 2008 IRS together with an investor associate acquired a controlling share holding in three former subsidiaries of

Mašinska Industrija Niš Mašinska industrija Niš ( sr-cyr, MИН Машинска индустрија Ниш; abbr. MIN) or Mechanical Industry Niš, is a Serbian holding corporation headquartered in Niš, Serbia. It is engaged in the energy, mining, process engineerin ...

( Nis, Serbia), the manufacturing companies: ''MIN Vagonka'' (wagons), ''MIN Lokomotiva'' (locomotives), and ''Specijalna Vozila'' (lifting equipment, specialised vehicles). IRS acquired a 49% share of parent holding company ''Friulexport d.o.o.''. In 2009 the contract of sale was annulled, and the privatisation of the companies reversed. In 2009 the company's exports amounted to 1.1% of Romania's total exports, and was the largest European manufacturer of rail wagons with a 20% market share. IRS's rail wagon orders were deeply affected by the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

following the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

resulting in the main wagon building business becoming insolvent in 2010. ;Bankruptcy (2010-2011) Following a severe downturn in rail wagon orders due to economic depression, Astra Vagoane Arad, Meva and Romvag Caracal became insolvent in 2010, and they were re-organised in 2012 as 'Astra Rail Industries'. MSV Metals Studénka also entered insolvency in 2011, it was acquired by JET investment in 2013. Subsidiary rail freight operator Servtrans entered insolvency in 2011, and was acquired by rail operating group 'Grampet Services' in late 2011. The 29% stake in Severnav shipyard was put up for sale by the liquidations in 2014. ;Astra Rail Industries (2012-) The three rail vehicle manufacturing sites in Romania were reformed under ''Astra Rail Industries'' in 2012. The companies were acquired for €30 million which was returned to creditors. The new company's parent was ''Astra Rail Management BV'' (95%, Netherlands). APROMAT ARAD and ICPV Arad were acquired in 2013. In Oct 2016 the holding company ''Astra Rail Management'' and

(USA) announced they intended to merge their European activities into a joint venture "Greenbrier-Astra Rail" - as part of the agreement Greenbrier was to pay $60million total to Astra Rail, with the joint venture becoming 75% owned by Greenbrier. In June 2017, The Greenbrier Companies and AstraRail Management merged and began operating under the name ''Greenbrier Europe''.

References

Notes

External links

* {{citation, url = http://www.irsgroup.eu/, title = International Railway Systems, archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070516040639/http://www.irsgroup.eu/, archivedate = 16 May 2007 Rolling stock manufacturers of Romania Romanian companies established in 2012 Manufacturing companies established in 2012 Companies of Arad County

History

See also

References

Notes

External links