It will travel at 400 km/h and could connect Madrid and Barcelona in 90 minutes.

The future of trains lies in magnetic levitation and alternatives such as the Chinese Hyperloop, which in its first tests has already reached 623 km/h. However, “traditional” high speed still has a lot to say, both in Spain and in the rest of the world. As surprising as it may seem, many countries still do not have tracks or trains adapted to what we already consider a standard. The one that wants to join this select group of nations is Russia, which hopes to have it operational by 2028. a high-speed train line between its two most important cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

A few days ago at the exhibition Manezh Station: Moscow Transport 2030, The event aimed to present the design of the Bely Krechet, the nationally produced train that will cover this route and the one will reach a maximum of 400 km/hcovering the 635 km distance of the LGV-1 line between the two cities in less than 2 hours and 15 minutes, compared to the 4 hours taken by current trains.

The ceremony, which was attended by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Saveliev, Russian Railways (RZD) Director General Oleg Belozerov and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sbyanin, among other dignitaries, acquisition agreement for 41 high-speed trains with 8 cars and a total capacity of 460 passengersIts design and production will be carried out by Ural Locomotives, part of the Sinara group, which will involve a public investment of almost 23 billion euros.

Gyrfalcon

Following the tradition of the sector in Russia, this train is named after a bird. In this case, the chosen one was the gyrfalcon, the largest in the world and one of the fastest, capable of exceeding speeds of 130 km/h. Your design This is an evolution of the Lastochka, the electric trains initially built in collaboration between Siemens and Ural. Locomotives, thwarted by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Although the only thing that has been shown so far is a full-scale mock-up, both of the exterior and interior of the train, including the cabin, the signing of the agreement for the production of the trains represents an essential boost for a macro-project. aims to modernize the dilapidated state of Russian railways.

Just a few months ago, an official visit to the Ural Locomotive Plant took place, attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. At this event, it was announced that the final route of the HSR-1 line would be 679 km long, with stops at 14 intermediate stations. According to RZD’s plans, up to 42 daily trains are planned in each direction between Moscow and St. Petersburg, which could carry up to 14 million passengers per year.

The development of high-speed rail in Russia is one of the priority areas of the national transport strategy, approved in August 2023 by Putin, with a total length expected to reach 7,000 km by 2035The high-speed railway line between Moscow and St. Petersburg is a long-standing wish of the Russian authorities, dating back to the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. In 1991, the former leader even issued a decree for the creation of the railway line, but it was eventually cancelled in 1998.

As part of the new strategy, “it will be achieved five major high-speed rail projectswhich will cover and ensure the movement of about 80% of the country’s population,” Saveliev said. “The Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed train will give a strong boost to the Russian economy, and will also help increase territorial connectivity and passenger and cargo mobility.”

The first step of Bely Krechet, before its first appearance at the Manezh exhibition, was the signing of the contract for the acquisition of two pre-series trainsfor a total value of 12 billion rubles (about 125 million euros), the delivery of which is scheduled for the end of March 2028.

twice as fast

The preliminary design, carried out by the RZD Railway Engineering Center, has already been completed and its final form should not be much different: they are adapted to the Russian track gauge, 1,520 millimeters, and They will consist of eight wagons, with four types of accommodation for different types of passengers (and ticket prices). In principle, the maximum operating speed would be 360 ​​km/h, although the design speed would reach 400 km/h, 100 kilometers per hour more than the Spanish AVE.

So these new trains will be “almost twice as fast as Sapsan trains [que pueden alcanzar los 250 km/h]and will take just 2 hours and 15 minutes” to travel between the Russian capital and St. Petersburg. As agreed, the Gyrfalcon “will meet the highest safety and comfort standards” and all of its key components will be manufactured in Russia, with assembly and commissioning centralized at the Ural Locomotives plant in the Sverdlovsk region.

It is not yet known which engines will power the trains, but this was mentioned during the presentation ceremony. a useful life of 30 years“during which the manufacturer will be responsible under a life cycle contract,” said Moscow’s deputy mayor for transport.

This project was announced almost at the same time as the official launch of Construction of Russia’s first high-speed railway linewhich will connect Ryazan, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Adler, with a possible extension to Minsk (Belarus).