LPG wagons for SBS Cargo Praha

SBS Cargo Praha has purchased four Class Zags tank wagons for transportation of liquefied petroleum gases. They have been supplied by the Polish builder CHEMET, Tarnowskie Góry, which is an established manufacturer of this type of wagons as well as pressure vessels for various types of applications, not only for vehicles.

The wagons for SBS Cargo Praha have a length over buffers of 17,500 mm, tare weight of 34.3 t and a theoretical maximum load weight of 55.7 t (the actual weight depends on the substance to be transported and its properties in relation to its metric weight and thermal expansion). The vessel has a volume of 105 m³ and is designed for a design pressure of 26 bar (and therefore has the P26BH code).

The design of the vehicles generally allows for the carriage of Class 2 gases, in this case they are intended for ammonia. The wagon is fitted with a standard crash-buffers, absorbing impact energy of up to 400 kJ (supplied by EST Eisenbahn-Systemtechnik) and a sunshield on the roof. The elements preventing the „overbuffering“ have not been installed.

The wagons (numbered 33 80 7813 020 - 023) were shipped to the customer in October 2023 and are intended for transportation of ammonia from various sources to Lučební závody Draslovka of Kolín. V.K.S. Vagon Komerc Speed, Praha is the keeper and ECM for those wagons, which is the case also for some of the other SBS Cargo Praha wagons.

In the recent past, perhaps the most visible project of CHEMET was a 117 m³ wagon developed in a close cooperation with Ermewa, which refers to it as Safety++ wagon, given its focus on maximizing operational safety and thus applying many relevant design features. So far Ermewa has ordered, purchased and put in service 390 of them.