Stadler launches new Polish plant for power converters
Rail giant Stadler has launched another plant in Poland, this time in the city of Białystok, where it will be manufacturing DC power converters for rail vehicles. With plans to produce more than 500 units per year, it will essentially serve as a “competence centre” for traction power converters for the whole Stadler Group.
The Stadler Converter plant will specialise in the development and production of battery chargers and traction and auxiliary power converters – essentially the devices that convert power from overhead electric lines and batteries to the trains’ motors – for urban transport vehicles. That includes trams, metros, and tailor-made vehicles such as rack-and-pinion and narrow-gauge railways.
With the work at the plant, as well as the converters manufactured at other Stadler locations, more than 1,000 vehicles with the company’s converters will be in operation by mid-2026.
State-of-the-art
Stadler says the state-of-the-art plant, which covers 7,000 square metres, will feature high-tech labs for testing the power converters that simulate real-world vehicle conditions, with production areas and a warehouse. The company says the new site will create some 250 new jobs in the Podlasie region, adding that it is actively hiring staff specialised in construction, electrical, control and software engineering. It is also looking for individuals with expertise in system engineering in the field of power electronics, as well as specialists in commissioning and service.
“I’m very pleased that Stadler has successfully opened another plant in Poland,” said Wioleta Pyt, operations director at its converter division. “We are expanding the scope of our local operations to include the production of power converters, which we will supply to all production plants within the Group… The development of local competences will be particularly important to us, and we plan to work with the Białystok University of Technology to do this.
Stadler expands Polish presence
The company has had a presence in Poland since 2006 and has been gradually developing its operations there. It has expanded its plants, producing rail vehicles for transport organisations all over Europe with its production plants in Siedlce and Środa Wielkopolska. The Stadler Polska plant in the latter city produces rail vehicles for Polish and foreign customers, while the Środa plant produces steel carbodies for trams.
It also has maintenance contracts with various Polish rail clients, taking care of 71 FLIRT vehicles for regional operator Koleje Mazowieckie, 20 FLIRT vehicles for PKP Intercity, and 20 FLIRT vehicles for the regional rail company Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna. Stadler’s Polish plants also built and supplied 110 TANGO Lajkonik trams for the city of Kraków.
Currently, approximately 70 per cent of Stadler’s total production in Poland is export orders, supplying a total of over 980 vehicles in Poland for 17 countries.
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