Harsco wins multi-million dollar contract to construct vehicles for German firm

Cumberland County manufacturer Harsco Corporation announced Monday that its rail division has secured a multi-million dollar order with Europe’s largest railway infrastructure manager.

The agreement with Germany’s DB Netz AG is a first for the Wormleysburg-based company and calls for the development of up to 56 maintenance vehicles that will be used on the European rail system. Company officials said the seven-year contract is valued at $290 million.

“Harsco Rail has significantly invested in Europe to develop market-leading technologies with superior execution capability and to establish a robust supply chain to offer the most innovative Utility Track Vehicles in the market today,” said Jeswant Gill, president of Harsco Rail. “We appreciate Deutsche Bahn’s confidence in Harsco Rail as a trusted partner to provide state-of-the-art vehicles and are excited about the opportunity to further our growth ambitions.”

The initial order by DB Netz is for 16 vehicles with delivery slated for 2022, company officials said, with seven more machines to follow two years later. Company officials said the German firm has been looking to replace its aging rail repair vehicle fleet with environmentally-friendly, state-of-the-art machinery that is compatible with changes in repair needs and track requirements.

Harsco’s diesel-electric Utility Track Vehicles (UTVs) offers power from overhead electric couplings or catenary or through its diesel engine. They can also run for up to two hours in work mode without any power supply using just a battery and feature a proprietary air conditioning unit cooled by a natural refrigerant.

Harsco Corporation, a leader in industrial environmental solutions, currently has 11,000 employees and operates in more than 30 countries. Its subsidiary, Harsco Rail, supplies railway track maintenance products in nine different countries, including the United Kingdom, India, Brazil, China and Australia.