OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2007.  In Krefeld-Uerdingen in Germany, serial production began of the first high-speed electric train Velaro RUS. A ceremony attended by Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, and Hans Schabert, head of the Transport Technology Department at Siemens, marked the occasion.

Designed especially for Russia, the Velaro RUS is planned to enter service between Moscow and St Petersburg at the end of 2009 and travel at 250 kph, but it can also run at a maximum speed of up to 330 kph after minor modernisation.

Each electric train, with a length of 250 metres will consist of 10 coaches and provide seats for over 600 passengers.

“In spite of the difficulties, all the work so far has been completed on schedule,” said Vladimir Yakunin. “We hope that all the future work will be done up to Germany’s world-famous quality standards. The new train will enable Russian Railways to overcome the insignificant gap in high-speed travel with other rail companies and allow Russia to join the elite club of leaders in high-speed electric trains.”

“I would like to this Siemens’ project make its contribution to the modernisation of Russia’s railways,” said Hans Schabert, head of the Transport Technology Department at Siemens. “At the end of the day, we would also like to strengthen Russo-German economic relations in the high-tech field. And Russian Railways, with its deep know-how in rail technology, is a very important partner for us.”

The Velaro RUS rolling stock is designed for Russia’s broad-gauge 1520 mm track and will thus be 33 см wider than the ICE 3 used in Germany.

Some of the trains will be fitted with mono-systems, others with dual-systems.

In addition, the trains will be specially adapted to Russia’s technical and climatic conditions.

According to Vladimir Yakunin, “there is also provision special technology designed for electric trains to be installed on the Velaro platform – this will allow all traction equipment to be installed in the under part of the train to give us a 20% increase in the number of passengers seats.”