ESTONIA: Representatives from Elron visited the Škoda Group factory at Ostrava in the Czech Republic to see the assembly of the first of 16 electric multiple-units ordered by the passenger operator.
‘Bringing new trains on to the line from 2025 will gradually solve the shortage of rolling stock for Estonia and allow us to start improving timetables’, said Elron Chairman Lauri Betlem after the visit on October 17. ‘During the last decade, there has been a very sharp increase in the number of train passengers in Estonia, and we have reached a situation where the movement needs of passengers are greater than the capabilities of the train fleet.
‘The new Škoda trains will fill this void, and when the infrastructure manager Eesti Raudtee completes the electrification of the railway between Tallinn and Tartu, the first trains will start serving passengers in the direction of Tartu.’
In February 2021 Elron awarded a consortium of Škoda Vagonka and Škoda Transportation a contract to supply an initial six EMUs, and it exercised an option for 10 more in January this year. The order includes 11 long-distance trains with 236 seats including 32 in first class, and five regional trains with 263 seats in a single class. Deliveries are planned for 2024-27.
The design is derived from RegioPanter regional EMUs supplied to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as units supplied to Latvia where the network has similar characteristics to Estonia including the 1 520 mm broad gauge.
Škoda said passengers can ‘expect modern features with a keen focus on passenger comfort’.
The Elron EMUs will be equipped to use the legacy 3 kV DC and more recent 25 kV 50 Hz electrification systems.
