Johann Feindert, CEO GATX Rail Europe, discusses 2020’s company and industry achievements and successfully growing during a year impacted by the pandemic.

Vienna, December 2020 – Johann Feindert, CEO of GATX Rail Europe (GRE) joins in from his home office for our annual wrap-up, “We’ve spent most of the year apart, yet we’ve grown closer together. We’ve achieved many of the goals we’ve set for ourselves; one of which is continued customer service excellence as well as railcar quality and safety.”

GRE has taken steps to make railcar leasing easier, despite restrictive circumstances. For example, GRE has worked tirelessly to make virtual railcar handovers with manufacturers possible. This jump-started a wave of digitalization projects across GRE, from HR to a digital workshop network to further equipping the fleet with state-of-the-art telematics solutions and sensors. “Each of these initiatives are making us even more effective, transparent and interlinked, which in the end, benefits our current and future customers.”

GRE has met its growth and investment targets: renewal and expansion targets for the tank fleet and new investments to grow all areas of its freight fleet. In addition, the company acquired more than 400 existing railcars from customers. Going forward, the purchase of existing railcars remains a priority growth source for GRE, particularly in the freight segment.

In addition to our fleet, we have successfully made our former Jungenthal assets available to the industry as a workshop resource through a long-standing workshop partner. We also opened a new office in Amsterdam, Netherlands and moved offices in Warsaw, Poland to better deliver to our customers in these regions.

Looking beyond company goals, it is safe to say that 2020 has been a year of achievements for the rail freight industry at large. In particular, GRE has supported innovation projects such as the digital automated coupling (DAC) and has worked closely with a number of international associations to promote green rail transport and to increase the modal share of rail freight transport.

All of these achievements remain priorities for 2021: Providing high-quality and safe railcars with excellent service, growing our fleet, driving innovation, and supporting the industries we serve. Johann Feindert concludes, “We will strive in 2021 and beyond to be an even more excellent partner to our customers and always look for new ways to make railcar easier for you. We want to close this year by wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season… Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

Further information about GATX Rail Europe can be found here.