Interview with Jan Siebert, MD and Head of Business Unit Rail, Elcowire Rail

Please give a brief history of Elcowire Rail and when did the rail sector become of interest to you?

With its sites in Hettstedt, Helsingborg and Cologne, Elcowire Rail has been integrated as a business unit combining the rail expertise for overhead contact line materials formerly known under NKT, Isodraht and Elektrokoppar. As such, Elcowire Rail is part of the Elcowire Group (Helsingborg). With its competence in copper – stemming from more than 100 years of successful deliveries and from regional competence through copper mining and metal machining – Elcowire Rail is best suited to serve the worldwide market for overhead contact line systems. Our reliable and high-quality products are in commercial operation around the world; for instance, in the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland), on the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed route (Spain), on Sydney Trains (Australia) and on the Raide-Jokeri light-rail network (Finland). Elcowire Rail’s product portfolio covers all applications for overhead contact lines, including long-distance rail transportation, urban light-rail and suburban rail systems, mining applications, trolley buses and, lately, also electrified road transport.

What are the core values of Elcowire Rail and how do you apply these to your work in the rail sector?

Elcowire Rail’s values address how we view enterprises, undertake business development and structure our relationship to customers, suppliers, employees and, last but not least, our surroundings:

• Responsibility: We build on and nurture long-term relationships and we act responsibly towards customers, co-workers, partners, our shareholders and the society
• Trust: We are committed and dedicated to fulfilling our promises. We act in a trustworthy and reliable manner
• Respect: We listen to and show consideration for one another. We recognise differences between each other.
• Passion: Our customers’ success is our passion. It is our priority to meet the needs and challenges of our customers.

As Europe’s leading supplier of copper products and services for overhead contact lines, we are committed to sustainable copper sourcing for a modern and eco-friendly infrastructure. We are developing and offering advanced technologies in close cooperation with our customers, always according to their needs.

We strive to enable new possibilities with electric mobility, clean energy and transportation infrastructure.

What would you say makes Elcowire Rail stand out from other competitors in the rail sector?

Elcowire Rail – as a distinct producer of contact wires, messenger wires, dropper wires, jumper wires, return conductors and earthing wires – has a proven track record of deliveries into projects around the world. Its technological competence, production and customer orientation is fully dedicated to railway and other overhead contact energy supply systems, fulfilling the needs of all standards applicable in the worldwide railway market. Elcowire Rail has been instrumental in developing continuous casting of copper magnesium alloys for railway application. Innovative products have been developed, produced and are in commercial operation, supporting our infrastructure customers to save energy, reduce system wear, lifecycle costs (LCC) and CO₂ emissions. Rail transport, per se, can be regarded as environmentally friendly, and the utilisation of Elcowire Rail’s innovative products will contribute even further to reduce LCC and CO₂ emissions. Elcowire Rail offers its vast experience in railway application also to its infrastructure customers to improve system design and operating parameters with the goal to increase reliability, availability, maintainability and the safety of the railway system.