Stadler and Solaris to establish partnership for light rail vehicles

Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. and Stadler Polska Sp. z o.o. are enhancing their cooperation for light rail vehicles. To strengthen their market positions, companies will establish the consortium. Cooperation will be inaugurated with the joint offer in Krakow tender to supply trams. Additionally Stadler and Solaris together are planning to take part in the other tram tenders in Poland and other European markets.

For the past 10 years Stadler Polska has been one of the leading rolling stock producers in Poland. The factory in Siedlce provides employment to ca. 800 people and cooperates with over two thousands Polish suppliers and partners. Stadler Polska is also the biggest exporter of rolling stock in Poland.

Solaris is a leading European bus and trolleybus manufacturer. In 2009, the company entered the rail market and since then delivered trams to Poznań and Olsztyn, Poland as well as Jena and Brunswick, Germany. The contract for the delivery of 41 trams for Leipzig is in process of completion.

“Close cooperation between Stadler and Solaris will enable companies to strengthen their positions on the tram market in Poland and other European countries. Product portfolios of both companies are complementing themselves very well. We will be able to profit from one another also in our technology development. Therefore I am very pleased with the cooperation with Solaris” – stated by Peter Spuhler, CEO and owner of Stadler.

“We aim to still grow our activities in the light rail market and therefore we searched for a renowned strategic partner for the further development of our products and facilities in the Poznań area and also to utilize our excellent market contacts and even grow our engineering and car body manufacturing competence. For such cooperation there is no better partner than Stadler, which is a globally-recognized Swiss brand. What is more, Stadler vehicles are well-known in Poland” – said Solange Olszewska, owner of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.

“The basis of our company philosophy is delivering the highest quality vehicles, characterized by reliability and low operating costs. Those features allowed FLIRT trains, also those produced in Siedlce, to succeed in many European countries. I am convinced, that establishing Stadler-Solaris cooperation and teaming our specialists will enable us to build modern trams, that soon will be appreciated on Polish and other selected markets” – added Christian Spichiger, Executive Vice President Division Central Europe of Stadler.

“This way we will create synergy effects for our future customers. What I would like to highlight is that the agreement will exert no impact on our activities within the bus and trolleybus market, which will continue as fully independent operation.” – explained Andreas Strecker.

About Stadler

Stadler has been building trains for 75 years. The system provider of rail vehicle construction solutions is headquartered in Bussnang in Eastern Switzerland, and has a workforce of around 7000 based in various locations across Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Belarus, Algeria, Australia and the United States. Stadler provides a comprehensive range of products in the railway and commuter rail segments: high-speed trains, intercity trains, regional and commuter rail trains, underground trains, tram trains and trams. In addition, Stadler manufactures main-line dual-mode locomotives, shunting locomotives and passenger carriages, including the most powerful dieselelectric locomotive in Europe. Stadler remains the world’s leading manufacturer in the rack-and-pinion rail vehicle industry. Additionally, Stadler Service maintains fleets in 16 countries consisting of over 680 vehicles that cover a combined annual distance of 110 million kilometres.

About Solaris Bus & Coach

Solaris Bus & Coach is a major European producer of city, intercity and special-purpose buses as well as low-floor trams. Since the start of production in 1996, over 14 000 vehicles have already left the factory in Bolechowo near Poznan. They are running in 30 countries in over 600 cities. Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. is a family company, founded and owned by Solange and Krzysztof Olszewski. The company introduced lowfloor buses to Polish market and quickly gained the leader position in this segment, which is maintained still today. Solaris employs 2300 people in Poland and almost 500 in its subsidiaries abroad.