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South African railway vehicle manufacturer
Alstom Ubunye
FormerlyUnion Carriage & Wagon (1957–2016)
IndustryRolling stock manufacturing
Founded1957; 69 years ago (1957)
FounderCommonwealth Engineering
Headquarters
Nigel, Ekurhuleni
,
South Africa
Owner
  • Commuter Transport and Locomotive Engineering (CTLE) consortium
    • Alstom (51%)
    • Commuter Transport Engineering (CTE)
    • Industrial Development Corporation (IDC)
Websitewww.alstom.com/alstom-south-africa

Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) is a South African rolling stock manufacturer. In 2016, after the French group Alstom acquired a majority stake, the company was renamed Alstom Ubunye.[1]

History

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Union Carriage & Wagon was founded in 1957. The company initially built passenger coaches. In 1964, UCW produced its first electric locomotive for the South African Railways, the Class 5E1, Series 2.[2] The Class 5E1 was also the first electric locomotive to be produced in quantity in South Africa.[3] UCW also built electric multiple units, including the 5M2A fleet used in South African commuter rail between 1962 and 1985.[4] Many of these units were later rebuilt into newer classes such as the 10M3, 10M4, and 10M5.

Class 5E1, Series 2 locomotive
Class 5M2A EMU
Class 15E locomotive
Class 10M4 EMU

The Nigel manufacturing plant became a major production site, covering about 3.7 ha (9.1 acres). Between 1964 and 1985, UCW produced over 1,600 electric locomotives with GEC traction equipment. Over time, the plant delivered about 14,000 vehicles, including locomotives, coaches, wagons, and specialised vehicles.[5]

In 1974, UCW entered the international market with orders from Angola and Zambia.[6] In 1976, UCW received its first Asian order for twenty Type E100 electric locomotives for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), based on a GEC design. The TRA E1000 push-pull trainsets were also manufactured jointly by UCW, GEC-Alsthom, Tang Eng Iron Works of Taiwan, and Hyundai Rotem of South Korea.[7] In 1993, UCW formed a joint venture with Siemens Mobility, SGP Verkehrstechnik, and China Steel Corporation to manufacture 216 cars (36 six-car sets) of C321 metro cars for the Bannan Line of the Taipei Metro, with the first entering service in 1999.[8]

UCW assembled rolling stock for the Gautrain at its Nigel facility under a partnership with Bombardier Transportation. It also built electric locomotives such as the Class 19E and 15E for Transnet.[9][10]

Ownership

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The initial shareholders were Commonwealth Engineering (51%), Budd Company (25%) and Leyland Motors (12%).[12] By 1965, Budd and Metro Cammell Weymann held a combined 41% shareholding which they sold to Anglo American plc and General Mining. In December 1969, Commonwealth Engineering reduced its shareholding to 42% with the other two shareholders each owning 29%.[13][14][15]

In 1987, Commonwealth Engineering Parent company Australian National Industries sold its shareholding to Malbak Limited.[16] In October 1996, the business was sold to Murray & Roberts.[16][17]

In February 2013, the company was sold to the Commuter Transport and Locomotive Engineering (CTLE). CTLE is a consortium between the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Commuter Transport Engineering (CTE).[18] In April 2016, Alstom acquired a 51% stake in CTLE and renamed Alstom Ubunye.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Alstom completes acquisition of CTLE shares, reinforcing its local presence in South Africa". Alstom. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  2. ↑ History Union Carriage & Wagon
  3. ↑ South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
  4. 1 2 "Alstom Ubunye - Railways Africa Magazine". www.railways.africa. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  5. ↑ "Railways Africa - Issue 6/2015" (PDF). Railways Africa.
  6. ↑ South African rail works is well experienced Rails September 1978 pages 4–6
  7. ↑ 台灣鐵路火車百科：台鐵、高鐵、捷運(第三版)，蘇照旭 著，人人出版2014年2月出版（ISBN 9789865903404
  8. ↑ Yonkers Fighting To Save Rail-Car Jobs Archived 2020-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, Elsa Brenner, 25 July 1993
  9. ↑ "assembly process at Union Carriage and Wagon Partnership". Gautrain. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Renewed hope for jobs in Nigel as Union Carriage and Wagon Partnership (UCWP) starts assembling Gautrain vehicles". 10 September 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Com-Eng to Build New Plant in South Africa Railway Transportation July 1958 page 26
  12. ↑ Comeng Sells Interest in Sth African Subsidiary Railway Transportation December 1969 page 41
  13. ↑ Dunn, John (2008). Comeng: A History of Commonwealth Engineering Volume 2 1955-1966. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 188–209. ISBN 978-1877058424.
  14. ↑ Dunn, John (2010). Comeng: A History of Commonwealth Engineering Volume 3 1966-1977. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 92–106. ISBN 978-1877058738.
  15. 1 2 Dunn, John (2013). Comeng: A History of Commonwealth Engineering Volume 5 1985-2012. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 13–15, 203–219. ISBN 9781922013521.
  16. ↑ UCW Archived 2016-10-28 at the Wayback Machine Murray & Roberts
  17. ↑ South Africa's CTE acquires Union Carriage & Wagon International Railway Journal 4 February 2013
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