OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2009. Russian Railways (RZD) President Vladimir Yakunin and Dr. Dietrich Moeller, senior executive vice-president of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Russia, received from Gennady Petrakov, head of Russia’s Federal Railway Transport Agency, a certificate asserting that the Sapsan trains comply with Russian Federation safety standards, reported the press-centre of RZD.

The trains were developed by Siemens specialists with the involvement of representatives of RZD, higher education institutes run by RZD, and railway colleges. In total, more than 180 specialists worked on the project. More than 20 patents were obtained as a result of this joint work. In order to confirm the high-speed Sapsan train’s compliance with the safety requirements in force on the railway infrastructure of the Russian Federation, the full cycle of preliminary, acceptance, and certification tests was conducted.

Acceptance and certification tests were conducted for a range of parameters, including strength of carriage bodies, dimensions, aerodynamics, electromagnetic compatibility, track impact, coupling ability, dynamic and strength tests, ergonomics, and others. The tests involved specialists of Siemens AG and Knorr-Bremse, and also specialists from Russian research institutes, working with testing centres, development design bureaus, and specialists from the October Railway and the RZD Technical Policy Department.

"The electric train successfully underwent the full range preliminary, acceptance and certification tests. The design of the train ensures reliability, energy efficiency, safety, and comfort for passengers and personnel," Vladimir Yakunin said. The tests were conducted from 15 March to 15 October 2009 at specialized testing facilities (at the Shcherbinka station on the Moscow Railway and the Belorechenskaya station on the North Caucasus Railway), as well as at existing facilities on the October, Moscow, North Caucasus, and Gorky railways.