The Russian train manufacturer Ural Locomotive and its parent company Sinara, Siemens and Russian State Railways signed a high-speed train production cooperation agreement on October 20.

The agreement covers the production of a fleet of 42 high-speed trains for the Moscow-St. Petersburg line, with an estimated production value of 174.7 billion rubles ($2.25 billion). The maximum design speed of the train is 360km/h. Although the current maximum operating speed of one section of the line is 250km/h, the operating speed of most sections of the line is only 200-220 km/h.

At present, the design of the train is carried out in cooperation between RZD and Siemens. The first train is expected to be produced in 2023. The train will then be tested and is planned to be certified by 2025.

According to Dmitry Pampyansky, Chairman of the Sinnar Group, the total investment in the project is expected to reach 10 to 12 billion rubles.

The agreement outlines a joint assessment plan for the Russian market’s demand for high-speed electric trains. Taking into account the Russian high-speed railway construction plan, it plans to develop train manufacturing technology and business plans formulated by the Ural Locomotive Company, with a localization level of at least 80%.

Ural Locomotive Company also started construction of new facilities for high-speed train production at the site of the Upper Peshma plant in Russia on the same day. The facility is expected to be completed in 2024, when the relevant train tests will also be completed. Editor/Sang Xiaomei