ZF Group has established a business unit to serve the North American rail market and has configured part of its large manufacturing facility in Gainesville, Ga., to produce OEM rail gear boxes.
It is the latest venture in the company’s growing North American presence within the rail equipment industry and helps satisfy the “Buy America” clause that municipal, state and federal train customers must comply with when ordering rail vehicles.
“The framework we’ve established in Gainesville not only prepares ZF Group and its employees there for new opportunities, but will enable quicker U.S. production for our rail customers,” said John Duncan, president, Off-road Driveline and Chassis Technology. “That enables a faster turnaround on their orders, with the flexibility to tailor production to almost any requirement.”
The Gainesville plant is ready to produce gear boxes for heavy rail vehicles (HRV), light rail vehicles (LRV), diesel multiple units (DMU) and streetcars for the North American market. The plant currently produces axles for the passenger car market, transmissions and axles for construction equipment and suspension components, axles and IFS for the bus and coach market.
ZF has a long history of supplying gearboxes to OEMs on all continents. In Europe, ZF is one of the largest providers of rail gear boxes, producing nearly 5,000 units each year, and have more than 50,000 in service. ZF is also a major supplier of dampers for the rail industry.
In addition to the new, Gainesville-produced OEM gearboxes providing Buy America status for projects, ZF supports the industry by providing re-manufacturing and overhaul services at its facility in Vernon Hills, Ill.
