RUSSIA: An agreement for the supply of up to 3 730 coaches worth 237bn roubles by 2025 was signed by Russian Railways’ long-distance subsidiary Federal Passenger Co and Transmashholding on February 14. This includes a firm order for 2 644 coaches, with the rest as options.

The order covers a variety of types of single and double-deck coaches of existing designs as well as new designs to planned to be rolled out in 2019, 2020 and 2023, including vehicles for push-pull operation.

‘We will update almost a quarter of the existing fleet’, said FPK General Director Pyotr Ivanov, adding that the contract was a was part of a seven-year plan to improve the quality of passenger services.

All of the vehicles are to be produced at TMH’s Tver Carriage Works. General Director of the factory Andrei Solovey said the agreement was of ‘exceptional importance’ for the TVZ plant and the wider supply chain, as it would ensure utilisation of production capacity and create the right conditions for the steady development of the domestic passenger rolling stock industry.