Skoda transports first unit to Latvia disassembled on trucks
Due to different gauges and the situation in Eastern Europe, trains are transported by road.
Skoda began transporting the first RegioPanter electric unit to Latvia this week. The disassembled train is being moved on trucks that have left the Plzen and Ostrava plants. The gatehouse at the Ostrava plant had to be demolished because of the oversize load.
Skoda will produce a total of 32 four-car train sets for Latvian railways, the order value is around EUR 245 million inclusive of maintenance, spare parts supply and training. Deliveries are expected to finish by December 2023. The first training took place in Plzen, where employees got acquainted with the new unit, the Latvian carrier stated.
Pasažieru vilciens plans to start testing the new trains on Latvian rails in August. The new sets should be deployed on routes from Riga to the cities of Aizkraukle, Tukums, Skulte, and Jelgava.
The new electric units are designed to operate on railroads with a gauge of 1,520 mm and a 3 kV supply system with the possibility of a future change to 25 kV. The vehicles must withstand climatic conditions from −40 °C to +40 °C. The capacity of the vehicles is 400 seated and up to 450 standing passengers, with a maximum speed of 160 km/h.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková.