History

The history of PJSC “Kryukovsky Railway Car Building Works” starts in the 1869 with the small car repair shops of the Kharkov-Nikolaev railway, specialising in the freight-car repairs. Upon construction of the new industrial buildings in 1900, the shops started rendering repair services for passenger coaches. During those far gone years the plant engaged 400 workers, who provided repairs of 120 freight-cars and 20 passenger coaches per month.


Kremenchug. Railway bridge over Dnieper	Kryukov. The middle of the XIX^th century

With the industrial manufacture development since 1924, some repair works of the railway field, including the Kryukovsky Car Repair Shops, had changed their profile into the release of railway products. At that very time the staff of the enterprise had received an important production assignment – to adjust the output of 16-ton box-cars with the metal frame.


Repair shops of the Kharkov-Nikolaev railway at the Kryukov station.	Workers of the car repair shops 1912.

Soon the enterprise had completely passed from repairs to the railway products manufacturing: 20-ton two-axle flat-cars and 60-ton open-top cars. The number of workers at that time made up 1800 people. In the middle 30-ies of the last century the enterprise reached its record in the pre-war years – the production figure of 7000 railway cars per year.

The repair shops workers at the repaired cars 1901.

Machines’ installation in the car repair shops

During the years of the Great Patriotic War the plant was evacuated to Perm, where the manufacture of the defensive production (demolition air bombs) was arranged in a short time. On return from the evacuation in 1944, the staff of the plant began to restore its production simultaneously with the restoration of the enterprise, and in 1945 60-ton open-top cars were put to serial manufacturing and already in 1948 its pre-war production output was restored.

Training shop of the FWAS (Factory-and-Works Apprenticeship Schools)

Construction of the I.F.Kotlov Club 1925-1927.

Further increase of production capacities went on rather fast; new shops and subdivisions were put into operation. Young, for that time, design staff of the enterprise developed the whole range of freight cars in a short time, which were subsequently put into mass production: car for peat transportation, hopper car for soot transportation and others.


Two-axle platform with wood sides, 1930	Best streamliners of the Kryukovsky Railway Car Building Works, 1940.

At that time the manufacture of 93-ton open-top cars was started. Their design won gold medal at the industrial exhibition in Brussels in 1958. With every next year the production in the enterprise changed.

Ruins of the new-forging shop

Construction of the works’ houses on the main street of Kryukov. 1950.

New manufacture and semiautomatic lines, welding and stocking production were put into service; design and technological potential was increased; owing to this in the 70-ies of the XX^th century the Kryukovsky Railway Car Building Works turned into highly technological, wide-range basic enterprise of railway car production of the country.

The first State Quality Mark awarded to the open-top car. 1972.

The millionth wheel set. 1974.

Since then the enterprise has considerably improved its operation by having expanded not only the nomenclature and quantity of the products, but also the manufacturing orientation. Nowadays, the plant represents a versatile enterprise with full cycle (from generated designer’s idea to ready products’ release) and a centre where most up-to-date technologies are developed. It is the centre of the new technologies development, due to what it firmly holds leading position not only in Ukraine, but also beyond its boundaries.

Red Banner of Mintiazhmash and the Central Committee of the heavy machine-building workers’ union passed on to the Kriukov railway car builders. 1982.

Passenger coaches building shop. 2004.

Rich production experience of operation and unique technologies became the basis for the works’ stability for the last few years. Over ten new models of the freight and specialised railway cars for different purposes were put into operation within the last years. They are being actively operated not only on the railways of Ukraine, CIS and Baltic States, but also far abroad.

Open-top cars, hopper cars, tank cars, box-cars, flat-cars, combining railway cars, wide assortment of spare parts and component parts for freight cars – make up the main production of the plant.

With the huge engineering and design potential, industrial capacities, market demands meeting and developing partnerships, the staff of the enterprise received capability to put new valuable production orientations into operation.

These include passenger coaches building, which proved European level of Ukraine with its comfortable trains operating on the railway of the country, escalators building, trains manufacturing for domestic underground.

Furthermore, the enterprise manufactures containers for various bulk cargoes transportation that have successfully been exported to the Western Europe countries during 20 years. It also releases welding metal constructions, spare parts for underground and escalators, motorcars and lorries, mining-and-processing integrated works equipment, agricultural technical equipment.

The plant plans to put the first native subway into operation on the Kiev underground tracks.

Significant enlargement of the production output, fast pace and profitable production, constant expansion of produce’s nomenclature, highly developed marketing policy – all makes it possible for the plant not only to maintain leading positions in native machine-building,

but also invest profit into the development of manufacture and its modernisation, create new work places, enhance its own prestige in the world market and look to the future with confidence.