Russian High-Speed Trains Are Doomed, Here’s Why!

[Your Old Comrade]

Sadly:

In today's video, we will explore another aspect of the war in Ukraine, as we already did in one of the previous videos, but this time our interest is the long term impact on Russia's High-Speed Rail system.

We will delve into how Russia made a mistake and failed to do technology and know-how transfer, like for example China, leading to a dependence on external suppliers that is now affecting their operations.

You may be surprised to learn that Russia has its own HSR line that utilises the impressive Sapsan trains manufactured by Siemens. These high-speed trains operate on a 650 km railway line connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. Along most of this route, trains can reach speeds up to 200 km/h, while certain sections allow for even 250 km/h.

In this video, you will find out how the cooperation regarding the delivery of high-speed trains between the Russian state railways and Siemens came to be, how these trains proved themselves in exploitation and how they affected passenger traffic and its performance in their country.

Finally, you will see how the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the contract between Siemens and RZD, and also, in relation to this, what future awaits these trains?

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[KirillMazur]

The main message - Russia will collapse without us and this will happen in 3-5 years. Yawn. Clickbait.
This is the same as saying that all cats will run away from Russia if Whiskas disappears.

“Lastochka” will already be fully localized this year; this information was already in the press back in the spring. The missing electronics (1%) can be produced in Russia or purchased in China - there is nothing “nanometric” or technically very complex there.
But “independent journalists” do not read official news, and Berliner Zeitung still believes that it is assembled exclusively from German components.

However, “technical cannibalization”, i.e. the dismantling of some trains for the subsequent assembly of others from their parts, for the Sapsan trains, in their words, “is definitely inevitable” - that’s the entire competence of the “informed” source.
The fact is that railways are a separate world, where rolling stock is just an element, important, but not the most expensive. Management, maintenance, repairs are the main costs of this world. The operating Sapsan trains in Russia are one of the first generations of trains. For comparison, the fourth generation is already being put into operation in China, and in European countries the third generation is not seen everywhere. As for spare parts, the market is not exclusive and China satisfies the demand of Siemens. That's the whole answer.