Faiveley Transport
Faiveley Transport
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Faiveley Transport

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Faiveley Transport

Faiveley Transport (French pronunciation: [fɛvəlɛ tʁɑ̃spɔʁ]), formerly Faiveley, is an international manufacturer and supplier of equipment for the railway industry founded in 1919. It introduced the single-arm pantograph in 1955. The company has subsidiaries in more than 24 countries. The majority of Faiveley Transport's outstanding stock is owned by Wabtec, which acquired majority stock ownership from the Faiveley family in 2016.

In 1919, Louis Faiveley founded in Saint-Ouen, France, the Établissements Louis Faiveley, a small assembly shop centered on electromechanical parts. It soon grew and became one of the French railway system's leading suppliers. It introduced its first pantograph in 1923. In 1930, it also ventured into the manufacture of door systems for trains. By the 1930s, it was already one of France's leading companies in all its fields of activity. In 1935, the company became a Société Anonyme, although the shares' majority stayed in hands of the Faiveley family.

After the Second World War, the company quickly recovered and in 1946, it introduced electric heating systems. In 1955, it helped set a new high-speed train record, as a Faiveley-equipped train exceeded 331 kilometres per hour. That year, Faiveley also introduced the first single-arm pantograph. This innovation helped the company to ensure its position as world leader in railway pantograph systems.

In 1961, the company created a research and development division with the aim of adapting electronic applications to the railroad industry, included automatic door systems. It also began to equip the new rubber-wheeled Paris Metro cars. In 1965, the company started to produce automatic doors for buildings, creating in 1968 a subsidiary specifically for this area: Faiveley Automatismes.

The company continued its expansion. It opened subsidiaries in Spain and Brazil (Equipfer) in 1966 and 1976, respectively. In 1979, an Italian branch was created. Although initial attempts to enter into the American and Canadian markets were not as successful, by the late 1990s it had expanded into those countries.

The Stone-Faiveley AMBR pantograph is one of the four standard pantographs in use on British railway locomotives and multiple units. Fitted to many locomotives and multiple units from the 1960s onwards, it has a maximum operating speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). It is generally associated with older rolling stock.

France remained as Faiveley's core market. During the 1970s, the company introduced new corail coaches for the SNCF and provided equipment for a new generation of subway trains, the MF77. In 1972, Faiveley presented its first very-high-speed pantograph. Soon after, it introduced its first electric automated road system.

In 1984, Faiveley purchased Saint-Gobain subsidiary Air-Industrie's transport division, giving it operations in passenger train air conditioning systems. That year, it acquired from the Matra's subsidiary Interlec its tachometry activities. Together with the company's other transportation-related activities, these subsidiary operations were gathered into a newly created subsidiary: Faiveley Transport.

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