The contract on the delivery of 32 new electric passenger trains to Pasažieru Vilciens was signed by Grigulis and the Latvian rail company’s board members Inga Vagele and Aldis Daugavvanags. On behalf of Škoda, the contract was signed by the Czech company’s CEO Martin Bednarz and board member Milos Broncek.
Under the agreement, all 32 electric passenger trains have to be delivered by 2023.
Skoda is to start delivering the trains within 140 weeks of the contract taking effect, which in turn will happen as soon as Skoda Vagonka submits its warranty of capacity to execute the agreement, which it has to do within 30 days.
The new electric trains will have four carriages each and will be 109 meters in length, which means that their total length will reach 3.5 kilometers. Each train will have 436 passenger seats, with the total number of passenger seats amounting to 13 952. At present, Pasažieru Vilciens has 26 electric passenger trains of different lengths and with varying numbers of passenger seats. The total number of passenger seats in Pasazieru Vilciens trains is approximately 10 000.
The new trains will be equipped with climate control and modern amenities, as well as video and audio information systems. The new trains will run smoother and less noisily on the tracks than the old ones. The speed of the Skoda trains will reach up to 160 kilometers per hour as compared to 130 kilometers per hour of the existing trains.
Pasažieru Vilciens will receive electric trains ready for passenger transportation, with the manufacturer expected to provide the certification and testing of the trains.
After the purchase of the new trains, Pasažieru Vilciens will be able to introduce a fixed-interval schedule for train departures on all railway routes, which means that during morning and evening rush hours the trains will be departing every 15 to 20 minutes. The new trains will be running on the Aizkraukle, Tukums, Jelgava and Skulte lines.
As reported, the Latvian government has approved the purchase of electric trains for the state-owned joint-stock passenger rail company Pasažieru Vilciens (PV) from Škoda Vagonka.
The government has thus approved long-term liabilities to the national budget for a total of 255.889 million euros.
The new electric train project will include the purchase of 32 new electric trains, necessary parts for a period of five years, maintenance equipment and the construction of a maintenance and a repair center for the aforementioned sum.
As part of the project, the state will grant the following subsidies - 36.632 million euros in 2019, 4.5 million euros in 2020, 15.053 million euros in 2021, 125.923 million euros in 2022, 44.268 million euros in 2023 and 29.512 million euros in 2024.
