Rigas Vagonbuves Rupnica - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Originally named Phoenix, Rīgas Vagonbūves Rūpnīca (RVR) was founded in 1895 by the businessman Oscar Freywirth and is one of the largest machine-building plants in Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. RVR is based in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

and was for many years the largest producer of electric

Electric train

Electric train may refer to:* Diesel-electric locomotive...

and diesel trains and also tramcars in the former Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Its best known products are the ER1

ER1 electric trainset

ER1 electric trainset was manufactured by Rīgas Vagonbūves Rūpnīca from 1957 till 1962 for suburban commute usage within Soviet Union on lines electrified on 3000 V, DC....

, ER2

ER2 electric trainset

Beginning in 1962 the Railroad Machinery Plants of Riga and Kalinin started to release ER2 electric trainsets instead of ER1s. ER2 cars have footboards for low platforms, and aprons for high platforms, installed in the train yards. The presence of footboards caused body to be redesigned. The same...

, ER7 and ER9

ER9 electric trainset

For servicing suburban commuter lines, electrified on 25 kV, AC, the Railcar Manufacturing Plant of Riga produced ER9, then ER9p electric trainsets in the 1966-1975 period. The mass production of these trains had begun in 1964.-Railcar types:...

electric trains, many of which are still in service today. Between 1973 and 1988 it built the high-speed ER200

ER200

The ER200 was a Soviet electric train built in Riga by Rīgas Vagonbūves Rūpnīca. It was the first high-speed Direct Current intercity Electric Multiple Unit with rheostatic brake....

train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

, and has more recently been involved in the refurbishment of units operated by the Latvia

Latvia

n railway company Pasažieru Vilciens.

History

In 1936, Fenikss was reorganised into Joint Stock Company Vairogs, which later manufactured Ford-Vairogs

Ford-Vairogs

Ford-Vairogs was the name of a car factory in Riga, Latvia, that produced license built Ford cars between September 1937 and 1940 when it was expropriated as the property of the Soviet government...

automobiles under licence.

Trains

Currently under development is a family of new diesel trains

Diesel multiple unit

A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...

under the name DR1B which will have a capacity of between 2 and 12 cars, and will be fitted with Euro3 standard engines and new power equipment. RVR currently oversees the refurbishment of older ER2 and ER9 trainsets

Electric multiple unit

An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

, as well as the development of new products labelled ER22/29/35. The trains will be fitted out with newly designed interiors, built from layered plastic, aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

panels and fibreglass. Customers will have the option of either a leather or fabric finish on passenger seats .

Trams

Starting from 1923 to 1930, after postwar reconstruction the factory has produced some 40 tram cars for Riga city tramway.
After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, in 1949 the factory started producing tram cars MTV-82

MTV-82

MTV-82 is a Soviet four-axle tramcar. MTVstands for Moscow Tram Vehicle. The first prototype of MTV-82 tramcar was built onthe military Factory No. 82 MTV-82 (МТВ-82 in Russian) is a Soviet four-axle tramcar. MTVstands for Moscow Tram Vehicle. The first prototype of MTV-82 tramcar was built onthe...

.
In 2002, RVR signed an agreement with the Mayor of Riga which will see the company replace the trams in Latvia

Latvia

's capital city once their period of operation ends in 2010. The new trams are set to offer enhanced comfort and safety, as well as being far quieter than the city's current fleet of elderly ČKD Tatra

CKD

A knock-down kit is a kit containing the parts needed to assemble a product...

units. According to RVR they will feature bright and spacious interiors and will be 20-30% more power efficient than their predecessors. The new units are expected to be produced at a rate of 15-20 per year and will result in a gradual phasing out of the ČKD Tatra

CKD

A knock-down kit is a kit containing the parts needed to assemble a product...

tramcars.
As of 2008, many of the RVR - built trams still operate in Daugavpils

Daugavpils

Daugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...

, Latvia's second largest city.

Current operations

Many RVR trains built during the Soviet period are still in active service across the former USSR. Current operators are shown below. Very few, if any, RVR tramcars are still in operation, with most cities of the former USSR favouring tramcars built by ČKD Tatra.

Company name	Country	Types in service (number)
Armenian Railway Armenian Railway The Armenian Railways are the national rail operator in Armenia. The , gauge network is electrified at 3 kV DC.The operating environment has deteriorated since the collapse of the Soviet Union...	Armenia Armenia Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...	ER22 (66)
Azerbaijan State Railway Azerbaijan State Railway "Azerbaijan Railways" Closed Joint-Stock Company is the national state-owned rail transport operator in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The , gauge network is electrified at 3 kV DC...	Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...	ER2 (74)
Bulgarski Durzhavni Zheleznitsi Bulgarian State Railways The Bulgarian State Railways are Bulgaria's state railway company and the largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1885. The company's headquarters are located in the capital Sofia. Since the 1990s the BDZ has met serious competition from automotive transport...	Bulgaria Bulgaria Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...	Class 32 (79), Class 33 (6)
Belaruskaya Chygunka	Belarus Belarus Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...	ER9 (57), DR1 (?)
Elektriraudtee / Edelaraudtee	Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...	ER2 (10), ET2 (1), DR1 (12)
Georgian Railway Georgian Railway Georgian Railway LLC is the national rail company of the country of Georgia.A vital artery linking the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, it sits on the shortest route between Europe and Central Asia...	Georgia Georgia (country) Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...	ER2 (?)
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy	Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...	ER9 (77), DR1 (10)
Lietuvos Geležinkeliai Lithuanian Railways Lithuanian Railways is the national, state-owned railway company of Lithuania. It operates all the railway lines in the country.Lithuanian Railways' main network consists of 1749 km of broad gauge railway of which 122 km are electrified. They also operate 22 km of standard gauge...	Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...	ER9 (16), DR1 (14), AR2 (1)
Pasažieru Vilciens Pasažieru Vilciens Passenger Train is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia, operating both electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 2001 by bringing together three separate companies under one name, creating the first subsidiary of Latvian Railways...	Latvia Latvia Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...	ER2 (108),ER2T (23), DR1A (31),DR1AM (10), AR2 (1)
Makedonski Zeleznici Makedonski Zeleznici MŽ is the public enterprise for railway infrastructure in the Republic of Macedonia.The Republic of Macedonia is a member of the International Union of Railways...	Macedonia	Class 412 (12)
Željeznica Crne Gore Railways of Montenegro Rail transport in Montenegro is operated by three separate companies, which independently handle railway infrastructure, passenger transport and cargo transport.Montenegro is a member of the International Union of Railways...	Montenegro Montenegro Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...	Class 412 (3)
Rossiyskye Zheleznye Dorogi Russian Railways The Russian Railways , is the government owned national rail carrier of the Russian Federation, headquartered in Moscow. The Russian Railways operate over of common carrier routes as well as a few hundred kilometers of industrial routes, making it the second largest network in the world exceeded...	Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...	ER1 (260), ER2 (1106), ER22 (66), ER200 (2), ER9 (617)
Železnice Srbije Serbian Railways Serbian Railways is the national railway carrier of Serbia. Its current network spans a distance of 4,347 km in length, with 32% electrified railways....	Serbia Serbia Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...	Class 412 (21)
Ukrzaliznytsia	Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...	ER1 (?), ER2 (?), ER9 (?), DR1 (?)