Siemens and locomotive leasing company Mitsui Rail Capital Europe (MRCE) have agreed to found a joint venture for the servicing and maintenance of locomotives. Siemens and MRCE will each hold a 50-percent stake in the joint venture and will jointly manage the new company. Founding of the JV, pending approval of antitrust authorities, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2018.
The JV will be headquartered in Rotterdam and be named Locomotive Workshop Rotterdam (LWR). Both partners are jointly investing in the JV, primarily to build a new workshop for locomotives. The new workshop is scheduled to open in the summer of 2019. The workshop will handle inspections, preventive and corrective maintenance work, which can also include simple repairs and upgrades.
The location of the new workshop in the port of Rotterdam will enable rail operators to optimize their long-term planning of necessary service stops for locomotives on their routes. The port is an ideal location for servicing locomotives arriving from throughout Europe, and will eliminate long service transfer runs that cost time and money.
“Siemens and MRCE have enjoyed a close supplier relationship for years. With the founding of the joint venture, we are raising our collaboration to a new level. Together, we will not only maintain the MRCE fleet, but also reliably service and guarantee the maximum availability of third-party fleets with our innovative maintenance technologies. With the new facility in the port of Rotterdam, we are expanding our existing international workshop network and can better support customers where they need us,” said Johannes Emmelheinz, CEO of Customer Services at Siemens Division Mobility.
“MRCE has more than 10 years of experience in the management of full services for locomotives across Europe. … We will bring in this experience into the joint venture with Siemens, creating an important service hub for European rail operators in Rotterdam,” said Junichi Kondo, CEO of Mitsui Rail Capital Europe.
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