Spanish train manufacturer Talgo, has signed a contract with The Federal Passenger Company, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, to design and supply high speed passenger trains.
The value of the contract ‘exceeds’ €100m and Talgo will be building a maintenance facility in Russia to ‘carry out maintenance services in collaboration with RZD’.
The contract involves the design, manufacture and certification of 3 trains to serve the Moscow to Berlin route and 4 trains for the Moscow to Kiev line, with 20 passenger cars.
The trains will reach speeds of 200km/h and both projects combine sleeper cabins and regular passenger seating.
Talgo said the trains will be equipped with a system that combines ‘lightness, safety and low power consumption, making them some of the most modern trains’.
The trains will have a natural tilting system which allows higher cornering speeds and cuts the time for their negotiation by 20-30%.
Talgo’s RD variable gauge system means vehicles can change gauge at low speed without stopping from the Russian national broad-gauge standard of 1520 mm to the European narrow-gauge width of 1435 mm.
It is expected that the use of the Talgo trains will significantly reduce travel time from 13 hours to 7 hours between Moscow & Kiev and from 27 hours to 18 hours between Moscow & Berlin.
It is not know when the trains are expected to enter service.
