Russian Railways may sign deal to buy eight Sapsan trains on Dec 17
MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) - Russian Railways (RZD) plans to sign a contract on December 17 to buy an additional eight Sapsan high-speed trains, a source in Russian Railways told the press Friday at the second Railway Congress in Moscow.
The trains are to be delivered in 2014, he said. The cost of the contract will be around the same as the 2005 contract for 8 Sapsan trains - just over 34 million euros per 10-car train (the previous consignment was bought for 276 million euros).
The departure time frequency of the trains is not going to be increased now (the Sapsan trains are used between Moscow and St. Petersburg and Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod), he said. The trains will run paired within the same timetables because long-distance passenger trains and commuter trains need to be allowed to pass. Several platforms that Sapsan trains stop at will need to be lengthened, but the cost of this work is not too great. The platforms at the destination stations will not require upgrades.
The trains will be services at the Metallostroy depot in St. Petersburg. Russian Railways plans to provide additional capacity at the depot by moving its rolling stock to a new complex that will, the source said, be built by Siemens. This project will cost around 40 million euros, he said, adding that the German company had not given its reply on this issue yet.
The decision to buy more Sapsan trains was encouraged by high demand and because of the need for planned repairs starting in 2012.
