photo: Siemens mobility press materials/Siemens Mobility and Rail Engineering Centre to cooperate on development of high-speed electric trains in Russia
JSC Engineering Centre for Rail Transport, a joint venture between the Russian Railways (RZD) Holding and JSC Sinara – Transport Machines on the one hand and Siemens Mobility on the other, have signed a cooperation agreement within the framework of a project for the development and production of new high-speed electric trains for operation on high-speed railways in the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the partners will conduct technical consultations with the aim of developing the basic concepts for the preliminary design of the new high-speed trains for the broad gauge 1520 mm space and laying the foundation for the project’s development.
In developing the concepts, all the general requirements set by Russian Railways for the new Russian high-speed trains, as well as the Russian and international standards currently in force, will be taken into account.
"Thanks to this cooperation, we are taking our long-standing and reliable partnership with Russian Railways to a new level," said Albrecht Neumann, Managing Director for Rolling Stock at Siemens Mobility. "Our customer is focused on improving high-speed transport in Russia by raising the level of passenger comfort and reducing costs throughout the entire life cycle of the train fleet. Our role is to support the Engineering Centre for Rail Transport, which is part of the RZD Holding, in the development of trains with uniquely optimized energy consumption and maintenance costs combined with maximum reliability."
Russian Railways has been successfully cooperating with Siemens for many years. The two companies have implemented a number of large-scale projects, including the development and commercial launch of the Sapsan and Lastochka high-speed electric trains.
"The Company highly appreciates Siemens’ engineering experience in rolling stock development and considers the signing of this agreement an important step towards the creation of Russian high-speed electric trains," said Vladimir Andreev, Head of the Technical Policy Department at Russian Railways.
"When implementing high-tech projects in mechanical engineering, cooperation with experienced partners significantly reduces the risk of errors arising in the design and production," said Alexander Kireytsev, Managing Director of JSC Engineering Centre for Rail Transport.