Wabtec Books Ireland Railcar Sale

U.S. rail equipment maker Wabtec said its subsidiary in Doncaster, England, won a $9 million contract to build 24 specialty trackbed maintenance cars for Irish Rail.

The specialty ballast wagons, which distribute ballast rock along the rail line, are slated for 2010 delivery.

The Wilmerding, Pa., company that was originally known as Westinghouse Air Brake makes a range of products for the U.S. freight and passenger rail industries, from brakes and other parts to railcars and locomotives.

It has already been selling overseas, but the latest foreign sale helps Wabtec diversify its revenue stream at a time when the U.S. freight market has a huge amount of equipment parked and waiting for cargo demand to return.

Although passenger equipment demand has risen some with the U.S. stimulus package, freight is still the dominant rail market on this continent and various other equipment makers have been boosting their overseas marketing to help offset the North American slump.

Wabtec said it has already built more than 250 of the ballast wagons for the U.K. market over the past decade. They are high-output cars which are operated by remote control. Its latest customer, Irish Rail, is Ireland’s national railway and operates both passenger and freight service.

In the April-June quarter, Wabtec had $334 million in sales, down from $390 million a year before. It has operations in 16 countries, and in the first half of this year made 38 percent of its sales to customers outside the United States.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.