?Sapsan? high-speed train designed by Siemens into more tests at Shcherbinka

MOSCOW. March 16. KAZINFORM The ?Sapsan? high-speed train designed by Germany?s Siemens is being tested in Russia. It has successfully reached Shcherbinka near Moscow for a new series of tests.

Russian Railroads and Siemens defined requirements for the train in specifications. ?The train has covered the distance between Lyuban and Metallostroy stations of the Oktyabrskaya railroad at the speed of 140 kilometers per hour,? Russian Railroads Senior Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich said earlier. He said they had tested the train?s brakes. It was impossible to do tests of the kind in Germany, as it did not have a line with the width of 1,520 millimeters. ?The ?Sapsan? is braking perfectly on the Russian track. It produces almost no noise and smoothly accelerates and brakes,? the train?s chief designer Andreas Lipp said. Now the train is in the Moscow region for more tests on the experimental circular track in Shcherbinka. ?Then we will have to test the train at the speed of 275 kilometers per hour on the Okulovka-Mstinsky Most track. That would be ten kilometers per hour more than the maximum recommended operative speed,? Gapanovich said. The train?s reaction to switches will be tested at the Belorechenskaya-Maikop high-speed testing range. The tests will be over by December, when the train will make its first regular shuttle trip between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Possibly, that distance will be covered within three hours and 45 minutes. The railroad company promised that ?Sapsan? tickets will be lower than air tickets. Passengers who choose the Sapsan will not have to experience traffic jams on their way to the Moscow airport and from the airport in St. Petersburg. Russian Railroads head said earlier that the economy class ticket would cost 4,000 rubles (the current exchange rate is 36.2 rubles to the dollar). The first class ticket will cost more. At present the speediest train on the Moscow-St. Petersburg line is ER-200, which covers that distance within four and a half hours, Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS.