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Russia unveils high-speed train
Source: Agencies |
December 19, 2009, Saturday
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RUSSIA'S first high-speed train left Moscow for St Petersburg on Thursday, weeks after a bomb killed 26 on the same busy route.
A rousing burst of recorded brass music accompanied the departure from Moscow of the "Sapsan," which means peregrine falcon in Russian, the planet's fastest bird.
Traveling at up to 250 kilometers per hour, the Sapsan will cut the journey time between Russia's two main cities to three hours 45 minutes from at least four hours 30 minutes, delighting business travelers.
Tickets for the maiden journey of the sleek train which sports a red, aerodynamic-styled nose quickly sold out.
"This is fantastic news for Russia. I changed my plans to take this train. The government should have done this long ago, especially on such a busy route," said Konstantin, one of the passengers.
Sapsan's launch comes as a high profile show of government support for Russia's state-owned railways following the attack on the luxury Nevsky Express train on the same route on the night of November 28.
Islamist militants later claimed responsibility for the bombing, the worst in Russia outside the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region since 2004.
"Of course I am worried about bombs given what happened recently," said passenger and energy ministry official Alexander Savyelev, who snapped pictures of the train's distinctive nose on his mobile phone before embarking from Moscow's Leningradsky station.
"I didn't actually know I was on this train until five minutes ago as my manager booked it. I thought, why is the journey time so short?" he added.
The Sapsan was built by German industrial group Siemens, which won a 30-year, 630 million euro (US$907.5 million) deal to supply and service eight of the trains in 2006/07.
A rousing burst of recorded brass music accompanied the departure from Moscow of the "Sapsan," which means peregrine falcon in Russian, the planet's fastest bird.
Traveling at up to 250 kilometers per hour, the Sapsan will cut the journey time between Russia's two main cities to three hours 45 minutes from at least four hours 30 minutes, delighting business travelers.
Tickets for the maiden journey of the sleek train which sports a red, aerodynamic-styled nose quickly sold out.
"This is fantastic news for Russia. I changed my plans to take this train. The government should have done this long ago, especially on such a busy route," said Konstantin, one of the passengers.
Sapsan's launch comes as a high profile show of government support for Russia's state-owned railways following the attack on the luxury Nevsky Express train on the same route on the night of November 28.
Islamist militants later claimed responsibility for the bombing, the worst in Russia outside the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region since 2004.
"Of course I am worried about bombs given what happened recently," said passenger and energy ministry official Alexander Savyelev, who snapped pictures of the train's distinctive nose on his mobile phone before embarking from Moscow's Leningradsky station.
"I didn't actually know I was on this train until five minutes ago as my manager booked it. I thought, why is the journey time so short?" he added.
The Sapsan was built by German industrial group Siemens, which won a 30-year, 630 million euro (US$907.5 million) deal to supply and service eight of the trains in 2006/07.
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