Axalta Coating Systems is best known in Ireland for its automotive refinish products and is the name behind the well known Cromax, Spies Hecker and Standox paint brands. However, as a leading global coatings supplier it is also involved in many high profile engineering projects with two huge London rail developments being a prime example.

Axalta has been working with Bombardier Transportation a leading supplier to the global rail industry on both the Crossrail and LOTRAIN projects where it is supplying its Imron® Hydro portfolio of coatings.

Crossrail was recently rechristened the Elizabeth Line and is a mammoth rail system spanning the UK capital. Axalta has been working for more than two years on the development which involves 669 rail cars. It is among the most significant infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK and is Europe’s largest construction project. When completed the trains will be light, constructed using materials such as aluminium for the body shell.  The trains will feature Axalta’s Imron HydroBasecoat 8200 and Imron HydroClearcoat HC300, both new product developments specifically for the rail industry.

The same new products are to be used on the LOTRAIN project, also in London. This comprises 180 rail cars and sees its next-generation AVENTRA trains featuring an innovative design with optimised performance, including reduced weight, energy consumption, maintenance costs and high reliability providing substantial benefits to passengers travelling on key London Overground routes. Production of these rail cars starts in 2016 and the new trains are expected to enter into passenger service between December 2017 and October 2018.

Steve Wilson, Axalta’s Rail Business Development and Key Account Manager says, “Working on these two very large rail projects has been a concerted team effort. Our challenge has been to meet the extremely stringent requirements at every step of the development process, but with our extensive coating experience we have been able to deliver what Bombardier needed.”