GEORGIA: Stadler Rail is to supply Georgian Railway with four Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units under an €39·6m agreement signed on April 22.
The EMUs are to be delivered between June and September and will be deployed on fast services between Tbilisi and the Black Sea resorts of Batumi, Kobuleti and Ureki. GR said the new rolling stock would improve passenger comfort and help to support tourism. The new trainsets would be fully compliant with European safety standards, and be the first Georgian trainsets to be ‘completely adjusted to the needs of physically disabled persons’, GR added.
The Kiss EMUs were originally ordered by Russian airport shuttle operator Aeroexpress, which awarded contracts for 16 four-car and eight six-car units in February 2013. However, the fall in the value of the rouble made that contract unaffordable, and a settlement was reached in February 2016 which will see Aeroexpress take only 11 units; two have been delivered so far. Azerbaijan’s national railway ADY has taken over five EMUs from the original order, with four now delivered, and GR has now taken four.
