On March 4, the first 5-unit train of 38 commuter electric multiple unit trains (EMU Desiro RUS) “Lastochka” (stands for Shallow) was delivered to the port of Ust-Luga onboard the PETERSBURG ferry from Krefeld via Amsterdam and Sassnitz, the Ust-Luga Company said.
The heavy cargo was handled by a team JSC POOL Trance at Ust-Luga Ro-Ro ferry terminal. The mooring and unloading of the ship, including the cargo clearance, took 1.5 hours.
“The EMU Lastochka could be delivered only through the port of Ust-Luga, as there is a facility for unloading the train with a possibility to put the train on the railroad tracks immediately after mooring the ferry. Besides, handling of such dimensions cargo requires experience and special equipment, " said CEO of POOLE Trance Igor Evstafiev.
Overall, 38 EMUs will be delivered to Port of Ust-Luga by several shipments. From the Russian port, the trains will continue their journey on Russian tracks to the Saint Petersburg depot, from where the trains will start their homologation trips.
In 2009 and 2010, Russian Railways placed contracts for a total of 54 Desiro RUS vehicles for revenue service at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Siemens AG said.
The first 38 will be completely built in Krefeld; the remaining 16 will be manufactured in Yekaterinburg on the basis of increasing localization. Siemens has just begun investing approximately € 200 million in the construction of a factory in this city. In addition to production, Siemens will undertake the maintenance of the rolling stock over a period of 40 years. In total, the manufacturing and maintenance contracts are worth almost € 1.1 billion.
The production of the Desiro RUS in the Siemens factory in Krefeld started in April 2011. Nine months later, at the end of January 2012, Siemens and RZD signed the release for the shipment of the first of 38 five-unit vehicles.
Russia will start operating the EMU Lastochka in Kazan and Sochi in 2013.Then, in February 2014, the vehicles will be transporting athletes and spectators to the venues in the mountains during the Winter Olympic Games. These trains will also be operated during the World Cup 2018 in Russia.