Belarusian-Swiss train factory Stadler Minsk will roll out the first train for the Minsk metro in Q3-Q4, Deputy Operations Director at the state-run enterprise Minsk Metro Andrei Mikhailovsky declared.
The four-car train will have two control cars (one at each end of the unit). It will be operated on line 2 at first and then on line 3.
“This will be a modern train with open walkthrough gangways from end-to-end. It will be tailored to all categories of citizens and equipped with anti-vandal seats, comfortable handrails, and an automatic train control system, which allows precision stopping at stations. I think that the passengers will be able to check out the new trains in 2018,” Andrei Mikhailovsky said.
In order to guarantee the safety of passenger service, the train will undergo an independent certification process before it starts carrying the first passengers, Andrei Mikhailovsky noted. Then the train will be tested at the factory and in the Mogilevskaya electric depot.
Stadler Minsk has won a tender to supply ten trains for the Minsk metro. The new trains will be running on line 3. The 17.2-km third line will serve 14 stations. It is designed to connect the southern and northern residential areas of Minsk with the downtown. The construction of the first four stations is underway (Kovalskaya Sloboda, Vokzalnaya, Yubileinaya Poshchad, and Ploshchad Bogushevicha). The new stations will be equipped with platform screen doors.
Stadler Minsk is a resident company of the FEZ Minsk and makes a part of the Swiss Stadler Rail Group. The enterprise manufactures products for broad-gauge railways. The train factory is based in Fanipol. (BelTA/Business World Magazine)
