Rail joint venture to create £60m-turnover business

A RAIL manufacturing joint venture has been announced that will create a £60m-turnover business across three sites in the north of England.

Unipart Rail and Lucchini UK have created LUR to cover the railway wheel, wheelset and bogies activities of both companies.

Its head office will be at Lucchini’s site in Trafford Park, Manchester and the 300-strong company will be led by Lucchini UK’s managing director Chris Fawdry.

The bogie overhaul facility, currently part of Unipart Rail, will continue in Doncaster when the joint venture begins in February 2015.

LUR is expected to benefit from having complete control over the supply chain of the safety-critical components that make up a traction system.

John Clayton, director of Unipart Group, said: “Unipart Rail is a supply partner to some of the best-known names in the rail sector. We have no doubt that this joint venture with Lucchini will provide even more benefits for the UK traction & rolling stock sector”.

Augusto Mensi, chief executive of Lucchini RS Group, added: “Through LUR our focus on product quality, service and innovation in the UK market will extend to the whole traction system. We will create strong synergies from the merging of these two already successful businesses.”