Stadler opens production facility

Stadler Rail Group has officially opened its FLIRT (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) production facility in the city of Siedlce. The facility currently houses 16 workstations within a 100 x 50-meter production hall, handling all stages of manufacture, including external fittings and electric installation. All assembled vehicles are tested on-site before they are delivered to the buyer.

The R4 (zł.15) million investment was initiated in 2006 when the company won a tender for the delivery of 14 FLIRT trains for the Mazowsze and Silesia regions. Five months after winning the contract, Stadler began modernizing a former PKP facility and laid the cornerstone for the assembly plant's expansion in February 2007. Construction was completed in May 2007 and the company initialized the first stages of production in June. The Siedlce plant employs 70 workers trained at Stadler's Switzerland facility. Company executives expect the first two trains to be completed in June 2008.

Stadler Rail's CEO and majority shareholder Peter Spuhler cites Poland's rich railway tradition, its quickly developing market and highly qualified workforce as the principal incentives for Stadler's investment.

"We see great potential for comfortable, energy-efficient urban and regional passenger transportation in this country," said Spuhler. "Stadler is [now] in an even better position to realize orders from Poland and neighboring countries," he added.

FLIRT trains operate in Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Switzerland.