Production has begun on a new batch of Sapsan high-speed trains which once complete will double Russia’s current fleet.
Valentin Gapanovich, senior vice president at Russian Railways, and Jochen Eickholt, chief executive officer (CEO) of Business Unit Rail Automation, Siemens, Infrastructure & Cities Sector, announced the official start of production in Germany on December 3.
The first trains are due to be delivered to Russia in late 2013, with the final deliveries from Siemens plant in Krefeld, Germany, scheduled for the end of May 2014.
On December 19, 2011, Russian Railways signed a 600 million euro deal with Siemens for eight new trains.
The Sapsan, which translates to Peregrine Falcon in English, is designed to withstand temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius to cope with the harsh Russian winters.
