Joint-stock passenger rail company Pasazieru Vilciens hopes that the new electric trains will start running by the end of the year, said Rodzers Janis Grigulis, Chairman of the Board of Pasazieru Vilciens, to Latvian Radio on Thursday.
He added that as soon as the certification and compliance testing of the new trains is completed, it will be possible to start operating them.
Grigulis explained that the 17th new train is currently on its way to Latvia, but in order for the Czech company Skoda Vagonka to meet its deadlines, two carriages of the new trains would have to be delivered to Latvia every week.
Grigulis also explained that the inspection and testing of the trains is lengthy because all the components have to be checked for compliance with the railway infrastructure. Meanwhile, for the first trains, it took several months for the manufacturer to understand how they could be put together in Latvia. Currently, part of the production and assembly of the trains takes place in Latvia, and Skoda Vagonka has relocated many employees to Riga.
He also explained that after the test runs, a compliance report has to be prepared and sent to the European Railways Agency, after which it goes to the State Railway Technical Supervision Inspectorate, which issues the operating permit.
Pasazieru Vilciens is already calculating the penalty for non-deliverance of the new Skoda electric trains on time.
Source: BNS.
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