Knorr Brake Corporation Jobs and Profile

Knorr-Bremse GmbH began to focus its attention on the American market in 1970s, when Chicago, New York and Washington were tendering for a total of over 2,000 cars and Amtrak was formed as a private corporation whose stock was primarily owned by the Department of Transportation. In 1973 Amtrak proceeded with its first capital acquisition of 57 new locomotive-pulled coaches, mainly for New York - Washington service. The Department of Transportation insisted that these new cars be designed for a maximum speed of 120 mph. At that time, no domestic firm could offer brake equipment to operate at such a speed. However, Knorr-Bremse, having conducted research on high-speed trains in Europe, was qualified to deliver equipment for this contract; the next major contract resulted that year. By then the work required that the first "official" Knorr Brake Corporation facility in the U.S. be established in Rockville, Maryland. Between 1975 and 1991, the operation in Rockville outgrew the original 6,000 square foot building so a facility in Westminster was purchased and the company relocated there at the end of 1991. In the meantime, negotiations had begun with New York Air Brake, and in 1991 Knorr Brake Holding Corporation, which controlled New York Air Brake and Knorr Brake Corporation, was formed. At that time, Knorr Brake Limited took over the Canadian operation of New York Air Brake. It remained a subsidiary of Knorr Brake Corporation until 1994 when it became a separate entity under the Holding Company. When these business arrangements were in place, all freight brake equipment manufacturing was transferred to New York Air Brake. Shortly thereafter, New York Air Brake's line of passenger car brake products was transferred to Westminster. Today, with the combined product range of New York Air Brake and Knorr Brake Corporation, the company is in a strong position to grow the business in the coming years.