INNOTRANS: The Velaro RUS high speed fleet for Russia is to be known as 'Sapsan' (peregrine falcon), RZD President Vladimir Yakunin and Chief Executive of Siemens Industry Heinrich Hiesinger announced at the unveiling of three cars from the first train.
The Siemens factory at Krefeld is producing eight 10-car Velaro RUS trains for delivery to RZD by 2010. The first will enter service from late 2009 on the Moscow - St Petersburg route, cutting an hour from current timings. This will be followed in 2010 by deployment on the Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod line, for which four of the trainsets will be equipped for dual-voltage operation on both 3 kV DC and 25 kV lines.
Taking advantage of the larger profile of the 1520 mm gauge network, the ten-car trainsets will be 330 mm wider than the ICE 3 operated by Deutsche Bahn. The design has also been winterised for temperatures as low as -50°C, and provision has been made to lengthen the trains to 12 cars in the future.
The trainsets will have installed traction power of 8 MW, with half of the axles driven. The top speed will be 250 km/h, but with the possibility of upgrading for 300 km/h.
Railway Gazette International is the official international media partner of InnoTrans. 
