Russian Railways, Siemens AG, Siemens Mobility GmbH and CJSC Sinara Group have signed an agreement for the supply of thirteen high-speed trains Sapsan, as well as an additional maintenance contract.
The agreements were signed today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum by Oleg Belozerov, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of OJSC Russian Railways, Joe Kaser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG, Sabrina Soussan, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Mobility GmbH, and Dmitry Pumpyansky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC Sinara Group.
According to the contract, Siemens Mobility GmbH and CJSC Sinara Group will undertake to deliver thirteen ten-carriage high-speed Sapsan electric trains to OJSC Russian Railways between September 2022 and July 2023.
The total value of the supply contract is EUR 513.5 million. Siemens AG will provide maintenance and repair of this rolling stock throughout its service life of 30 years. The additional agreement for the maintenance of the thirteen ten-car Sapsan trains is worth EUR 583.1 million euros.
Russian Railways currently operates 16 Sapsan high-speed trains, but this number is no longer sufficient to satisfy the constantly growing passenger demand for transportation. In 2018, Sapsan trains carried 5.47 million passengers, an increase of 7% compared to 2017. The average occupancy rate of the Sapsans in 2018 exceeded 92%, while during peak periods there was always a shortage of seats and the occupancy rate was often over 110%, including intermediate stops. The acquisition of additional trains will therefore not only increase the volume of passengers which the Sapsans can handle and thus satisfy the growing demand without significant changes to the timetable, but also ensure the ongoing competitiveness of the Russian Railways Holding.
It is planned to operate the trains between Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the number of runs on that stretch planned to increase from 15 to 18 pairs per day, including 9 pairs double trains with twice the usual number of carriages, and between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, with the number of runs planned to increase from one to three pairs every day.