The Ostrava-based start-up has grown into a thriving business. The Vítkovice railway repair workshops are expanding and recruiting staff

Vítkovice Railway Repair Works, part of the CE INDUSTRIES group owned by entrepreneur Jaroslav Strnad, originally began as an industrial start-up in 2018. In just under five years, the company has become a thriving business that is growing every year and taking on new staff at its facilities in Vítkovice, Ostrava, where freight wagons are repaired for more than 100 customers from across Europe.

“In 2022, we repaired 914 railway wagons. This represents a year-on-year increase of 6%, and our team has grown by 34 new members. There are now 165 of us in total, and we need up to 20 more colleagues,” says Daniel Marek, Managing Director.

“There are currently 700,000 freight wagons in operation in Europe. By 2030, there will be twice as many,” adds Jiří Rabiec, Chief Financial Officer of the CE Industries Group.

The success is also down to the mobile workshop service, with four sites in Louny, Ostrava, Mošnov and Štúrovo. VŽO covers the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, with planned expansion to the north (Polish ports), east (Ukraine) and south (Hungary, Croatia). VŽO shares its premises with VÍTKOVICKÁ DOPRAVA a.s. (110 employees), which operates a railway siding and provides services to industrial companies in the centre of Ostrava.