ON OCTOBER 2 Adtranz UK announced that it had signed a sales and purchase agreement with Babcock International plc and Siemens Transportation Systems Ltd, covering the acquisition of their British rolling stock maintenance joint venture Railcare Ltd, owned 60% by Babcock and 40% by Siemens. Regulatory approval for the transaction was expected within six to eight weeks.
Railcare operates two former British Rail Maintenance Ltd heavy overhaul workshops at Wolverton and Springburn (Glasgow), which it purchased in June 1995, and a plant at Coventry manufacturing vehicle interiors. In the BRML privatisation, Adtranz acquired workshops at Chart Leacon (Ashford), Doncaster and Ilford plus an electronic service centre in Swindon.
Adtranz UK Chief Executive Officer Per Staehr said that the purchase of Railcare would further improve the company’s geographical coverage within the British rolling stock maintenance and refurbishment market. Bert van Dijk, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Service, at Adtranz, added that the acquisition was in line with the company’s strategy ’to expand its service activities and to establish a national and international service network’.
Babcock has its own works at Rosyth in Scotland, used to refurbish metro stock for London Underground. Siemens intends to concentrate its British activities on train service provision packages with maintenance at dedicated depots.
