Russian Railways announced that starting with December 17 will put into service the new international train on Moscow – Berlin route. The new train will operate under the brand name Strizh, the Russian for the fast-flying bird the Swift. The Strizh will make its first run from Berlin on 18 December 2016.
For the first time, a passenger train will consist of carriages equipped with a system for automatically changing the width of the wheel sets. This will reduce the time needed to convert the carriages from the Russian standard gauge line of 1520mm to the narrow-gauge European track of 1435 mm at Brest station in Belarus.
It will take just 20 minutes for the Strizh to pass through a specially equipped transition device, whereas at present, carriages must be raised off the tracks to remove one set of wheels and replace it with the other gauge, which takes about 2 hours.
The Strizh will now cover the distance from Moscow to Berlin in 20 hours 14 minutes, saving over four hours compared to the present travel time of 24 hours 49 minutes, while the Berlin to Moscow run will take just 20 hours 35 minutes, cutting over five hours off the current time of 25 hours 56 minutes.
The carriages for the train are manufactured by Patentes Talgo S.L. in Spain.
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