ge capital rail services 1 type private limited company predecessor cargowaggon rail limited 1 founded 1998 1 parent ge capital solutions europe 2 previously ge equipment services . 3 website www.gerailservices.com ge capital rail services is a european railway services company owned by ge capital and headquartered in amsterdam netherlands . the company was formed in 1998 through the acquisition and merger of the leasing firms cargowaggon and international wagon services tiphook . contents 1 history 2 railway wagons 2.1 british rail vga 2.2 cargowaggon iga 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit cargowaggon gmbh was founded in frankfurt germany by swiss shipping company danzas holding ag to undertake trans european shipment of customers rail cargo . the company specified and purchased wagons from mainly german manufacturers which were then sub leased or hired to customers . the company was started through an invitation to manufacture and manage new rail vehicles for ford europe in 1979 to allow transportation of motor vehicle sub assemblies between various european factories . citation needed by 1997 jointly owned by australian business services company brambles industries and danzas the company was purchased by ge capital services . 4 in may 1998 ge bought international wagon services ltd in bromley kent united kingdom 5 6 which operated 2 100 railway wagons under the tiphook brand . by 1999 the newly named ge rail services had integrated cargowaggon gmbh and international wagon services ltd tiphook rail ltd resulting in a company with offices in the uk germany france italy and sweden . the company had in excess of 4 600 wagons of which 2 000 were suitable for channel tunnel traffic . in 1999 the fleet includes wagons for intermodal automotive infrastructure construction steel hazardous and general cargoes . 7 railway wagons edit british rail vga edit british leyland had used rail to transport a wide range of car parts between their various factories particularly engines . in the late 1960s br modified some of its very large four wheeled ferry vans in the late 1960s sub coded under tops as vqx . 8 via taut weather proof vinyl side curtains these wagons allowed easy access to load a number of palletised engines . ford started using the same wagons in the uk including on cross channel traffic to germany . in the late 1970s ford had sub contracted its inter factory transport to danzas . 9 as the uk had the most restrictive loading gauge in european railways the two jointly approached british rail to agree a new design which resulted in ford placing an order for private owner wagons with cargowaggon to make a replacement for the ageing vqx . the result was a 45 feet 14 m twin axle sliding door all metal van . the design proved so successful that in the early 1980s ford again approached cargowaggon for a new design this time a slightly longer 47 feet 14 m twin axle sliding door all metal van which was adapted by british rail to become the vga . cargowaggon iga edit so successful was the project for cargowaggon they extended the project . the problem of the twin axle design was that although its short length meant that it easily fitted on the cross english channel rail ferry its long wheelbase restricted the minimum radius on which it could be used . the resultant longer length wagon based on a twin eva bogie twin axle design 10 the iga spawned three basic variants curtain sided sliding metal door open flat waggon the cargowaggon iga is now the most commonly used trans european railway wagon particularly popular since the opening of the channel tunnel resulting in a design which has been improved over the developing years as opposed to replaced . citation needed see also edit ge capital rail services north american rail leasing branch of ge list of rolling stock leasing companies references edit a b c ge capital rail services limited company no. 02331401 via webcheck search retrieved 10 january 2012 jason t hesse 1 may 2009 ge capital s metamorphosis www.vrl financial news.com financial news publishing ltd. jack w. plunkett 2007 plunkett s transportation supply chain and logistics industry almanac 2007 plunkett research ltd. ge equipment services ge capital services enters european rail market with acquisition of cargowaggon www.thefreelibrary.com ge capital services via pr newswire 29 august 1997 ge capital railcar expands in europe railway age 199 6 18 june 1998 via connection ebscohost.com business day company briefs new york times 2 may 1998 ge rail services united kingdom manufacturers and services rolling stock leasing companies www.janes.com janes retrieved 10 january 2012 mike smith 2003 liveries on private owner rolling stock http paulbartlett.zenfolio.com ferrydanzasvan https web.archive.org web 20100626002542 http gallery6801.fotopic.net c319224.html . archived from the original on june 26 2010 . retrieved may 9 2010 . missing or empty title help external links edit ge capital solutions rail services www.gerailservices.com company website v t e general electric subsidiaries and divisions current ge capital ge capital aviation services ge commercial finance ge energy financial services ge capital rail services europe ge technology infrastructure ge aviation ge aviation systems ge healthcare ge transportation ge energy ge digital energy ge jenbacher ge measurement & control solutions ge oil & gas ge power ge wind energy ge wind offshore ge home & business solutions ge intelligent platforms ge global research ge ventures former and defunct australian guarantee corporation1 canadian general electric1 compagnia generale di elettricit 2 electric bond and share company2 ge americom2 ge aerospace2 ge betz1 ge capital it solutions2 ge consumer & industrial gecis2 ge capital rail services2 ge equipment services1 ge industrial1 ge infrastructure1 geis2 genesis lease2 ge security2 genworth financial2 montgomery ward2 synchrony financial2 tungsram1 whatman1 joint ventures and shareholdings current cfm international 50 % engine alliance 50 % ge hitachi nuclear energy 60 % ge honda aero engines 50 % penske truck leasing prolec ge 49.99 % tbs gb former alco ge 1940 53 nbc 1926 30 1986 2004 nbcuniversal llc 2004 13 products and brands aircraft engines general comprehensive operating system genie locomotives mazda reciprocating engines trivection oven tungsram people founders charles a. coffin thomas edison edwin j. houston elihu thomson other james cash jr. ann fudge susan hockfield jeffrey r. immelt andrea jung rochelle lazarus sam nunn roger penske douglas a. warner iii jack welch bob wright places and facilities ge building general electric building nela park realty plot research laboratory river works specialty control plant switchgear plant welch technology centre other edison engineering development program ge true the general electric concert general electric edgelab general electric theater general imaging thomson houston electric company timeline united states v. general electric co. 1now integrated into other ge divisions or business groupings 2sold or spun off category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ge capital rail services europe & oldid 739182625 categories general electric subsidiariesrailway companies of germanyrailway companies of the netherlandsfreight rolling stockrail transport brandsrolling stock leasing companiescompanies based in amsterdamhidden categories pages with citations lacking titlespages with citations having bare urlsall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2012 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links 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