Russian Railways (RZD) have placed an order for further Desiro RUS type regional trains with Train Technologies, a joint venture of Siemens and the Russian rail technology manufacturer Sinara.
The order, for which a preliminary contract was signed in June of this year, is for the delivery of 1,200 cars and is worth about two billion euros.
Production in the Ural Locomotives factory near Yekaterinburg is due to begin in 2013.
RZD has also awarded Siemens a 40-year maintenance contract, effective 2013 and covering a total of 54 trains of the same type that RZD had already ordered in 2009 and 2010.
This maintenance contract is worth around 500 million euros.
The relevant agreements were signed by Peter Löscher, Siemens CEO, Vladimir Yakunin, RZD President, and Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy, President of the Sinara Group, at the international rail business forum “Expo 1520” in Shcherbinka near Moscow.
The first units are due to enter service in Sochi in Autumn 2013.
Starting in 2013, the 1,200 new cars ordered by RZD for the Desiro RUS type regional train are to be built in the Ural Locomotives plant near Yekaterinburg, where Siemens has been manufacturing electric freight locomotives since 2010 under the terms of a joint venture.
“In all, we shall be investing more than 200 million euros in the Desiro production setup – in modern buildings, machine tools and personnel training,” said Siemens CEO Peter Löscher.
“Siemens is the most successful non-Russian supplier of railway technology in that country. By localising production activities, we are strengthening this market position and securing our close ties with the Russian railway industry.”
Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO of the Siemens Mobility Division, added:
“The trains will be delivered in the period from 2015 to 2020 and deployed above all in Russia’s rapidly growing metropolitan regions.
“This order clearly shows that conurbations are a huge growth market. Studies forecast that worldwide around five trillion euros will be invested in urban transportation systems by 2035.”
With the latest order for nearly 300 Desiro trains, Russia is creating the basis for modern and eco-friendly urban transportation for the future.
Compared to the trains currently operating in Russia, the new Siemens trains will consume roughly 30% less energy.
The vehicle is a development of the Desiro ML and has been specially adapted to the demands of the Russian market.
This means not only resistance to temperatures as low as -40° Celsius, but also carbodies and bogies that are built for 1520-millimeter broad gauge track.
