The largest machine-building cluster for the development and production of high-speed rail transport is being created in three regions. The project aims at creating a high-speed train with a cruising speed of 360 km/h (and a maximum speed of 400 km/h), a double-decker passenger train (250–260 km/h), and a container car (260 km/h). Production will take place in Sverdlovsk Region at the Ural Locomotives Plant with partners from Chelyabinsk and Kurgan Regions participating. The project involves the production of structural materials as well as the development of intelligent transport management systems. As a result, the project will create several thousand jobs.
‘In the production of the high-speed train, the Ural Locomotives Plant is actively cooperating with Russian Railways,’ says Vitaly Brekson, First Deputy General Director for Technical Policy at Ural Locomotives, OOO. ‘I believe that starting in 2026, it will be operating on the St Petersburg – Moscow railway. As part of the REC’s work, we look forward to cooperation in producing traction drives, power electronics, and developing new-quality materials.’
As for the line of heavy-weight locomotives, currently, work is underway on the assembly of a prototype electric locomotive 2ES6A with a locally produced asynchronous traction motor. It is supplied by Tyagovye Komponenty of the Sinara Group. All the elements of the motor are produced in the Urals. This electric locomotive will be tested in early 2022. In the future, it should become a flagship, a new base platform, based on which Russian Railways will be able to obtain the most diverse line of vehicles that will be used in the coming decades.