Establishing St Petersburg – Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod High-Speed Rail
On April 11, 2005, transport monopoly Russian Railways and Siemens Transportation Systems Inc. signed an agreement for the first stage of designing high-speed trains and preparing the design's request for proposal (RFP). The document was signed during the 2005 Hannover Fair in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
Since then, Russian Railways authorities have accomplished much to facilitate high-speed passenger traffic along the St Petersburg - Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod route. Trains hurtling at up to 250 kph will cover the distance between St Petersburg and Moscow in three hours and 45 minutes, and between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod in three and a half hours.
Russia's transport engineering sector lacks the experience for manufacturing high-speed rolling stock and its operation. Germany's Siemens AG has been developing such rolling stock. Russia will use specifically modified, state-of-the-art versions of Siemens Velaro high-speed trains.
In all, Russia will purchase eight ten-car high-speed electric trains, including four direct-current (DC) trains and four dual voltage power supply trains.
The electric trains are to be supplied from December 2009 through August 2010. The first train is scheduled for commercial operation in December 2009 after certification tests. A ten-car train measuring 250 metres in length can seat over 600 passengers.
Each train has a maximum speed of 250 kph but can be upgraded to 300 kph.
Up to six pairs of high-speed trains are scheduled to run between St Petersburg and Moscow. Two pairs will depart in the morning, one in the afternoon and two in the evening. One additional train can also be scheduled. Up to three train pairs will run from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod.
