Russia’s flagship carrier Russian Railways will present the concept of a high-speed train at the Transport of Russia exhibition on November 20-22, TASS agency reports.
The new train will travel at a maximum speed of 400 km/h, that is, only half the speed of passenger aircraft. At the same time, its design speed (that is, safe for transporting passengers) will be 360 km/h. For comparison: the fastest Sapsan trains in Russia travel at 250 km/h.
The 12-unit train will use distributed traction, with every second car equipped with engines.
These trains will be used on the new 800 km Moscow-Kazan railway, which should be built in 2019. The travel time from Moscow to Kazan will be cut to 3.5 hours from 14. The first section of the road, linking Moscow with Nizhny Novgorod, will work until 2024. Investment in the construction is estimated at RUR 1.7 trn ($25.75 bln).
The manufacturer for the new trains has not yet been selected: The Russian Railways is planning to hold an open competition. The Sapsan trains are made by the German company Siemens AG.