The delivery of Latvia’s new electric trains may be delayed by up to four months, warns Škoda Vagonka Chief Executive Officer Martin Bednarz.
The reason for the delay is the requirement to assemble the trains delivered using road transports in Riga upon arrival, he said, reminding that Škoda Vagonka’s initial delivery plan was different, but the war in Ukraine changed everything and continues influencing the work on the prototype train and future deliveries of trains.
Škoda Vagonka together with Latvian partners are looking for solutions, but the situation is an emergency. It is entirely possible there may be more delays, warns Bednarz.
He explains that the contract signed with Latvia’s Pasažieru vilciens was negatively impacted by Covid-19 pandemic, which impeded the projects for preparation of equipment and resources, as well as deliveries from sub-contractors and reduced overall manufacturing speed. The start of the war in Ukraine directly impacted the physical delivery of trains to Latvia.
Škoda Vagonka planned to deliver the trains using the railway from the east of Slovakia, where trains underwent testing, to Ukraine and then – to Latvia.
However, the situation changed, forcing the company to drop this plan. Instead it was decided to deliver trains in disassembled state using cargo trucks directly to Riga, where they will be reassembled. This is a much more time-consuming solution when compared with the original plan.
«We are doing all we can to make the delay as short as possible, but there are certain objective obstacles outside out control,» adds Bednarz.
As previously reported, the first new train was successfully delivered to Riga at the end of June 2022. Trains are delivered by road from the Czech Republic through Poland and Lithuania.
A total of five electric trains have been delivered to Riga so far.
Three of them are undergoing tests in Aizkraukle. Two of them are undergoing tests while empty. The third was filled with sand sacks to imitate carts filled to capacity (436 seated passengers, 454 standing passengers) in order to test the train’s functionality under maximum load – its speed and brakes. The fourth train is undergoing assembly.
Another train is undergoing tests in the Czech Republic.
Latvia’s Pasažieru vilciens expects to receive all 32 electric trains by the end of 2023.
Each train is composed of four cars. The length of a single fully assembled train is 109 m.
It is planned for the course of the new trains to be smoother compared with those currently in use in Latvia and the noise level in the cabins to be lower. The top speed of new trains will reach 160 km/h (120 km/h for current trains).
It is also expected that once Pasažieru vilciens receives new electric trains, the company will be able to introduce interval schedules across all routes. This means that in morning and evening hours on weekdays, which are traditionally times with the heaviest traffic, trains will course every 15 to 20 minutes.
New trains will be deployed on railway routes in Aizkraukle, Tukums, Skulte and Jelgava.
The total cost of the project is EUR 257.889 million. The project is co-financed by the European Union’s Cohesion Fund, which provides EUR 114.211 million of this amount.
In 2021 Pasažieru vilciens transported a total of 11.194 million passengers, which is 12.8% less when compared with 2020.