OREANDA-NEWS. June 05, 2012.  Russian Railways and Siemens have signed a memorandum to develop modern infrastructure for the maintenance and repair of passenger rolling stock. The agreement was signed by Valentin Gapanovich, Senior Vice-President of Russian Railways, Hans-Jцrg Grundmann, Chief Executive Officer of the Rail Systems Division at the Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector, and Johannes Emmelheinz, Head of Integrated Services at Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock, during the VII International Business Forum 1520 Strategic Partnership in Sochi on 31 May 2012.

The memorandum provides for studying the possibility of repairing and maintaining the electric Lastochka (Desiro Rus) and the Sapsan trains at the St. Petersburg-Moscow railcar depot in accordance with economic feasibility and taking into account the existing infrastructure as far as possible.

According to the document, the parties to the agreement will in the near future determine the composition of the working groups which will develop the timetable for further action.

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At present, Russia operates eight high-speed Sapsan trains between Moscow - St. Petersburg and Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod. In December 2011, Russian Railways and Siemens signed a contract for the supply of an additional 8 trains from 2014.

In December 2009, Russian Railways and Siemens signed a contract to supply 38 electric Desiro Rus (Lastochka) trains.

In September 2011, a contract was signed to supply another 1,200 electric train carriages, as well as a maintenance contract.

The Lastochka trains will be used to transport spectators to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, as well as in other suburban areas in Russia’s regions.