On 17 December 2016, the new high-speed international train Swift left Moscow’s Kursk station on its first run between the Russian capital and Berlin.
The event was timed to celebrate High Speed Day in Russia, which began with the launch of the Sapsan services.
“The problem of switching quickly from the 1435mm narrow gauge European system to the wider Russian gauge of 1520mm has existed for decades. Now this problem has been solved. The railways should unite people, and today we have modern rolling stock which can switch from one gauge to another in just 20 minutes. Earlier, this operation used to take several hours,” President of Russian Railways said in his address at the departure ceremony.
The new Swift international train will offer more comfortable travelling conditions to all passengers, including those with disabilities, since it provides for a greater number of compartments for people with disabilities.
This Moscow-Berlin service arose due to rising passenger demand for rail transport between Russia and Europe. For example, 561,400 passengers travelled abroad on Russian long-distance trains from January to November 2016, over 9% more than during the same period last year. Passenger numbers between Russia and Germany reached 25,800, which is 35% more than during the 11 months of 2015.
The Swift international high-speed train is manufactured by Patentes Talgo and reaches a new level in the quality of transport service in international transport.
This is the first time a Russian train has been formed which consists of rail carriages fitted with equipment for enabling an automatic change of gauge widths.
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