Kiruna Wagon to produce wagons for Södra Cell Värö

Kiruna Wagon has been commissioned to streamline Södra Cell Värö’s pulp transports by increasing wagon loading and unloading productivity.

The order comprises twenty-two wagons for Södra Cell’s pulp transports from the mill in Värö to the port in Varberg. Measuring twenty metres, the new wagon is almost twice as long as its predecessor and constitutes a productive solution, where the entire long side can be opened for maximum accessibility and safe loading and unloading with a clamp forklift.

“We are pleased and proud to be able to renew a relatively traditional design with solutions that enable cost-effective logistics with high productivity and security for a wagon that is opened and closed many times each shift. Details of the wagon will be innovative and take Södra Cell’s wagons to be ahead of their competitors’ in quality, productivity and safety. That’s our mission here at Kiruna Wagon,” said Fredrik Kangas, Managing Director of Kiruna Wagon.

In the project, increased transport utility is achieved without changing the conditions of the current railway line.

“With the new rail wagons, we take another step towards our goal of fossil-free transport by 2030. Thanks to Kiruna Wagon’s solution, we increase our transport capacity by 25 percent using the same train length, which prepares us for future production increases,” said Christer Larsson, logistics manager at Södra Cell Värö.

Part of the design challenge was to protect the sensitive pulp material from rain and melting ice and snow. At the same time, the entire wagon side must be fully openable to enable efficient loading and unloading. The technology, which is based on a combination of hard moving parts and tarpaulin, is in many ways proven in rail and truck transport, but in order to make the entire long side openable, it has been necessary to develop some new solutions that can both close tightly against weather and wind and open with high operational and personal safety also during the winter months.

“We are experts on ice and snow and have therefore chosen not to go with sliding sections, which, in addition to offering a limited cargo opening, also function poorly in winter conditions. Instead, we have chosen a coherent lightweight solution in which the whole side is opened by a four-bar mechanism,” said Mikael Mattsson, Mechanical Designer at Kiruna Wagon.

The first prototype wagon will be ready in spring 2020.

Fredrik Kangas
Managing Director
+46 (0)70-575 70 56
fredrik.kangas@kirunawagon.com

Christer Larsson
Logistics Manager
+46 (0)72-583 43 28
christer.larsson@sodra.com

The new wagon is almost twice as long as its predecessor and constitutes a productive solution, where the entire long side can be opened for maximum accessibility and safe loading and unloading with a clamp forklift.