Repair Factory  - Main Workshops -

Short history

In 1909, in the area where the Repair Factory ‘Main Workshops’(URAC) within Bucharest Transport Company STB SA is located today, the Bucharest Tram Company (STB) is established. At the beginning, this company used trams for public transport made abroad. But, once the surface railway network in Bucharest started to develop, the factory started to upgrade the existing fleet, to build trailer cars and even to assemble power heads.

After World War II, STB becomes ITB and we started manufacturing of all kind of trams.

Starting with the seventies, around 600 high capacity trams cars were built here, which were intended for Bucharest and other cities in Romania, such as Constanta, Brasov, Iasi, etc.

In 1962, the factory officially gets its present title.

After adopting a strategy to purchase new buses and trolleybuses and to update the tram fleet, in 1990, ITB becomes RATB.

With an experience of over 80 years in building, service, refurbishment, transformation and updating the urban transport and utility vehicles, the Repair Factory within STB SA keeps the old traditions but is prepared to be up to the most demanding technological requirements.

Contact:

Manager:
Ing. Gheorghe CAZANphone: +4021 318 34 34
Chief accountant:
Ec. Milica GHEORGHEphone: +4021 318 34 35

Repair Factory ‘Main Workshops’ – Detailed information regarding the service offer

We wish that our experience, as well as our capacity to implement could benefit you too!

This is why, high qualified personnel employed in the factory, is able to realize a diverse range of procedures such as metalwork, repairs, refurbishment, updating vehicle for public transport and utility vehicles, paint job, molding, forging, welding, thermal treatment, metal works, metallization, equipment repairs and maintenance, at the highest standards of quality and with a high economic return that is reflected in very competitive prices and fares for our products and services.

MANUFACTURING AND UPDATING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND UTILITY VEHICLES, REPAIRS AND REFURBISHING

Our factory has a wide experience in manufacturing the following:

  • Manufacturing V3A tram cars and utility cars (for snow plow and cargo)
  • Updating old V3A tram cars (with conversion in V3A-93 which have better performance than V3A cars) and Tatra T4R cars (with conversion into V2S-T, V2A-T, Bucur 1 which have better performance than T4R cars, lower production cost and contemporary design.
  • Manufacturing tram cars type V3A with chopper drive
  • Manufacturing tram cars type V3A with inverters drive and AC engines
  • Manufacturing BUCUR LF tram cars with 60% lowered floor and chopper drive
  • Manufacturing BUCUR LF tram cars with 60% lowered floor with inverters drive and AC engines
  • Capital repairs re-bodybuilding: trams V3A, T4R
  • Repairs tram bogie, tram traction motors, gear
  • Upholstery, carpentry

PAINTING

The paint shop within URAC is provided with updated facilities for painting auto body (minibuses, buses, trolleybuses and trams).

The painting system used is of the highest quality required today.

The BLOWTHERM TURBO INDUSTRIAL paint spraying and drying booth allows high quality painting of any type of vehicle body shell with a maximum gauge of L = 16m, l = 4,7m, h = 4,5m.

The paint shop is also equipped with a Swiss electrostatic painting facility (GEMA) for painting small elements with the gauge of L= 3m, l = 1m, h = 1,5m.

WE have a dry blastroom with steel shot where we do the anticorrosive preparation and the pretreatments in order to obtain high quality surfaces for the upcoming painting.

FOUNDRY, FORGIGN, WELDING HEAT TREATMENT, MECHANICAL PROCESSING, METALLIZATION

Within our production departments we manufacture the following:

  • Metalwork and intermediate products subassemblies poured or forged:
    • Steel, grey iron, aluminum and bronze parts;
    • Brake drums for buses and trolleybuses.
  • Forged plastic parts: weights up to 30 kg when free and up to 12 kg in mold;
  • Refurbishment of used parts through metallization and welding;
  • Zinc coating;
  • Parts and subsets obtained through milling (lathing, milling, planning and rectification);
  • Cold punching;
  • Different forms and sizes of metallic bodies.

REPAIRS AND EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

  • Machine-tools repairs, tinkering, jacks, hydraulic jacks, ventilation equipment;
  • Repairs of electric motors of 0-50 Kw, welding transformers, welding generators, furnaces for forge heating and heat treatments;
  • Manufacture and repairs of spare parts, SDV and molds

The factory is properly equipped to manufacture public transport vehicles, being provided with the infrastructure, high quality equipment and qualified personnel that allows us to provide very good quality work.

Some of the basic facilities of the factory:

  • hall assemblies for bogies and tram cars, equipped with gantry cranes and utility vaults;
  • foundry for ferrous and nonferrous;
  • forge workshop equipped with hammers and presses;
  • heat treatment workshop;
  • welding and metallization workshop;
  • mechanical processing workshop;
  • locksmith workshop;
  • design and SDV

BUCUR LF-CA tram car - Presentation

Prominent moments in the history of the factory:

1909 - The law for creating the “Communal Society for Building and Operating Trams in Bucharest” is adopted (the new society will be called S.T.B.). This represents the start of business for the STB Workshops.
1912 - The first two big halls for siding and maintenance tram cars were opened in Soseaua Stefan cel Mare.
1926 - Besides repairs for the existing trams, the factory started the manufacturing of tram trailers.
1929 - Once the last horse-drawn tram left service the factory started to transform the tram cars for the electric trams.
1937 - A power head is built as a reference model for importation of new trams.
1930 - A new hall is built for continuous repairs – section I – Tram cars repairs – considered at the time, one of the biggest and most up to date in Europe.
1934 - The factory started to transform the Thomson tram trailers into power heads.
1935 - We manufactured a power head prototype by transforming a Simmering trailer.
1939 - WE manufactured a power head prototype with metallic body, a more comfortable boarding platform and centralized command doors.
- We manufactured a bus built on Renault chassis and 4 tower railcars on Chevrolet chassis and the old animal powered assemblies were shut down.
1943 - We started building the taxiway workshop which is finished in 1944.
1947 - The SCM workshops were renamed the Main Workshops and they started manufacturing the Renault chassis bodybuilding (purchased since 1937).
1948 - We started bandage refurbishment through electric soldering;
- The first electric switching point in the workshop located in Piata Garii de Nord is manufactured.
- We started the project for a high-capacity tram car with four axels – the first project of this kind in the country, at the same time with the tram company in Timisoara with a similar project in 1949.
- The first trailers for V08 trams are built
1949 - We manufactured the first electric utility tram with dripping device in partnership with Uzinele Comunale Bucuresti.
1951 - We manufactured the prototype for the high-capacity tram on bogies, with 200 seats, which is put in service in 1951 on line 14.
1955 - The first Romanian bus is manufactured.
- they started up dating tram cars with two axels
- they manufactured the first up dated tram with metal body and load bearing
- they manufactured the first Romanian trolleybus and modified tram 750V engines.
1956 - We started up dating Thomson-Houston trams.
1961 - We built the hall for engine and units repairs for buses.
1965 - We built the hall for bus body repairs;
- they manufactured the first vehicles with tires.
1966 - We manufactured the first utility tram cars for gravel transport (tippers) and snow-plow vehicles.
1969 - The painting hall is built.
1970 – We designed the high capacity (300 seats) V3A tram (a car with 3 sections hinged);
– the prototype for tram V3A is manufactured.
1971 - Tram V3A is put in use.
1972 - We put in use the hall for manufacturing V3A trams.
1973 - According to law 132/1973, the workshops became URAC.
1980 - We manufactured the double jointed trolleybus (MEGA type).
1981 - The first urban train, 2XV3A, is put in use with a capacity of up to 600 passengers.
1982 - IWe started manufacturing the reduced variant of simple jointed trams (V2A);
- They manufactured the heavy snow plow vehicle with multiple functions UGZ.
1983 - We started manufacturing bidirectional V3A and V2A tram cars, with 2 driving cabins and doors on both sides;
- They built a modern control tower with remote control.
- They started equipping buses with devices and tanks for gas supply.
1984 - We started manufacturing trolleybuses for cargo;
– They started manufacturing improved V3A trams for other cities in the country (the first batch was for Constanta-75 tram cars, then for Ploiesti – 29 tram cars, Brasov – 24 tram cars, etc).
1985 - We started manufacturing jointed tram cars for other cities in the country (the first one is also for Constanta, then Ploiesti, Brasov, etc.)
1988 - They manufactured the 500th V3A tram;
- We manufactured the first urban train composed of a power head and two trailers (EP/V3A + EP/V3A + V12/V3A);
- The forts chopper equipped trolleybus is built;
- In the factory 586 V3A trams were built, of which 175 for the province (Constanţa, Braşov, Ploieşti, Botoşani, etc.).
1993 - Based on an internal project, they started updating V3A tram cars.
1995 - We made the restoration of a vintage tram from Austria (The Tram Museum in Mriazell);
- We put in use the first trolleybuses converted from Sauer buses.
1999 - The 100th V3A tram car is manufactured;
- We finalized the existing V2ST tram prototype, converting Tatra cars.
2001 - They passed the law regarding the ratification of the Financing Contract between Romania, the European Investment Bank and the General Council of the City of Bucharest for financing the Project regarding urban infrastructure in Bucharest, which was signed in Luxemburg, on the 18th of December 2000 and in Bucharest, on the 19th of December 2000. The project contains a provision regarding updating 126 Tatra trams and converting them into 63 simple jointed trams, as well as installation of 3000 tolls – new generation validators for the whole tram fleet.
2003 - Tram BUCUR 1 tram is manufactured.
2004 - We manufactured the bogie for the BUCUR tram with partly lowered floor after an inside project.
2006 - We manufactured the first V3A-CH-PPC tram, with partly lowered floor and DC traction with chopper manufactured in the factory.
2007 - The 11th BUCUR tram is manufactured.
2009 - We finished manufacturing the BUCUR LF CC prototype, with 60% lowered floor and DC traction with chopper. The project was entirely designed by SPC-UR.

The prototype of the Bucur LF tram inside the factory.
2010 - The 48th V3A-CH-PPC tram in manufactured.
2011 - Four BUCUR LF-CC trams were manufactured.

Bucur LF tram in the Dudeşti depot
2012 - Five BUCUR LF-CC trams were manufactured, with partial floor (60%) lowered and driven by inverters and AC motors.
- We put in use two V3A-CA trams, with partly lowered floor and inverter drive and AC engines.

Bucur LF tram crossing the Basarab bridge .
2013 - We continue to manufacture BUCUR LF-CC tram cars; - Besides developing the BLF project, SOC UR started evaluating two other projects of perspective: BLF 2 and BLF-CA-41.