Business news

A conference took place in Brest on 25-26 February to discuss the operation of the gauge switch device and the technical demonstration of the Talgo train that will enable passenger service between Belarus and Europe in the future. The technological operations required to switch the train to the new track gauge from the train’s arrival to its departure were demonstrated, specified the source.

Representatives of Belarusian Railways, Russian Railways, Patentes Talgo S.L. Company, the customs and border services of Belarus and Poland, PKP Intercity S.A. Company, and Polish Railways took part in the meeting.

Talgo trains are supposed to be put into service in Q4 2015 to enable passenger transportation between Belarus and Europe. The trains are expected to require as little as 30 minutes to cross the Belarusian-Polish border. To compare, conventional trains take about two hours to complete the same operation. The time includes the switchover from the wide track to the narrow track as well as border and customs control operations.

According to representatives of Belarusian Railways, personnel at the Brest station are hard at work to polish the switchover of Talgo trains from the narrow track to the wide one and contrariwise.

Belarusian Railways implements the project in association with Russian Railways. The project is designed to accelerate Talgo train travel speeds across Belarus along the future rapid train route Moscow-Minsk-Warsaw-Berlin in addition to offering better passenger transportation services. Apart from that, the infrastructure of the Brest railway station will be improved and the station’s throughput capacity will be increased.

Made by the Spanish company Patentes Talgo S.L., Talgo 250 is a rapid electric train that uses direct current and alternating current. The train can travel as fast as 250kmph.