Alstom
has been awarded a contract to supply four high-speed Pendolino trains for the Helsinki to St. Petersburg rail link. The contract is worth €120m and includes an option for two further trains.
The customer, Karelian Trains, is a joint venture between Russian Railways (RZD) and Finnish Railways (VR), which will co-manage the trains.
The new Pendolino trains will operate on a 450km, high-speed line connecting the cities of Helsinki and St Petersburg in three hours at speeds of up to 220kph. The trains will comprise seven cars, making a total of 352 seats, including a business class section. Customs and passport checks will be carried out on board in a dedicated car.
Scheduled for delivery in early 2009 and ready for service in 2010, the trains are based on Pendolinos that already operate in Finland, featuring the same front-end and interior fittings and adapted to extreme winter conditions. They also include components taken from the latest generation of Alstom tilting trains and are equipped with a dual voltage power supply system and safety and signalling systems.
The trains will be manufactured by Alstom’s Savigliano site in Italy.
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Where will all the raw materials come from for the manufacturing process? How will they be transported to the factory and what is going to be done with the various scrap and residues?