Domestic competitor for Hyundai Rotem

On April 5, an interdepartmental commission allowed the start of the operation of Ekr1, interregional high-speed dual-system electric trains with enhanced comfort, manufactured by Kriukiv Railroad Car Works (KRCW). The passengers will have an opportunity to appreciate the Ukrainian speed train at the end of the spring. Just as the Ukrzaliznytsia [the Ukrainian Railroads. – Ed.] planned, they will be used on the routes Donetsk – Simferopol, Kharkiv – Simferopol, Kyiv – Simferopol, and Kyiv – Odesa. At the moment, the commission authorized the production of eight more trains of this kind. But it does not mean that the Ukrzaliznytsia is ready to buy them. Until recently, the state monopoly tried to cancel the purchase contracts for the already assembled Ekr1 via courts. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan are among the potential buyers of the new speed train, since they are already buying the plant’s passenger cars.

Ekr1 is the first high-tech high-speed train in the post-Soviet area, created mostly with domestic resources. In 2000, Russia tried to make a similar electric train. However, it was never used for regular transportation due to a large number of errors and shortcomings. Two years ago, it was sent to the museum. And our northern neighbor started buying foreign trains (German Siemens AG and Italian Alstom).

Ukrainealso followed a similar path, when it purchased ten HRCS2 trains made by the South Korean company Hyundai Rotem before the Euro-2012 football championship. Nevertheless, the KRCW continued constructing and building a new model that would meet all the modern standards, and in some parameters would even leave the South Korean competitor behind.

Last year, a video appeared on the web, in which the first Ukrainian high-speed train outstrips the South Korean analog on the straight section of the railway track near Boryspil. So it is not without a reason that the passport of the Ukrainian train indicates the maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour (which is 24 km/h more than HRCS2’s maximum speed). Unfortunately, Ukrzaliznytsia’s passengers will not be able to feel this difference, since Ukrainian trains are not allowed to exceed the speed of 160 kilometers per hour. And even this speed is gained not often. A great number of point switches, curved tracks with small radiuses, and the tracks literally broken by freight trains do not allow it. According to experts, there are only three sections of the track, where the maximum speed can be gained. The longest is 15 kilometers, and there are two more, each 9 kilometers long.

The train is rather comfortable for passengers. Nine cars have a total of 609 passenger seats of three classes (first, second, and tourist). Chairs in the first and second classes have sliding cushions, the position of which can be adjusted. There are sockets for charging cell phones or laptops near every chair in the first and second class cars, which are also equipped with wireless Internet hardware. There is a bar in one of the cars. For emergency situations, dual power backup system is implemented on the train.

The Day learned more about the new trains and development prospects for the high-speed railroad vehicles from the Kriukiv Car Building Works board chairperson Yevhen Khvorost.

“We have been testing this model since last summer, when the first train was built. Both trains have run the required five thousand kilometers. And in general, during the testing time, the first train EKr1-001, produced in the summer of 2012, ran 60,000 kilometers, and the second, EKr1-002, produced in December, 2012, 6,000 kilometers. They ran the same routes which are used by Intercity and Intercity+ [Ukrzaliznytsia passenger trains. – Author].”

Were there any problems during the testing?

“There were some minor issues, but all of them are fixed now. In general, they were related to train conducting computer systems.”

Did the single arm pantographs and batteries ever go out of order during the test run, as it happened with Hyundai Rotem?

“No, we use Czech batteries. Their electrical power is five times greater than that of the Korean-made electrical train, so there have been no problems. We have used pantographs that are suited to Ukrainian conditions, and there have been no complaints.

“If we could not find quality Ukrainian parts, we ordered them in Europe. These are engines, reduction gear, vibration dampers. The Polish company Medcom helped us create the control system. In general, more than 180 Ukrainian enterprises and partners from the CIS and Europe supply parts and components for our train.

“At the same time, about 70 percent of the production is localized Ukraine. And this means more than five thousand jobs.”

Did PESA [Polish train manufacturer, which supplies rail buses PESA 620M to Ukraine. – Author] help in the development of this train?

“No, we cooperate in other projects.”

But the design of EKr1 resembles that of the trains by this Polish company.

“The design, especially of the main carriage, depends on the speed of the train. Ours takes into account that the train can move up to 200 kilometers per hour. Many trains in the same class produced by many companies have similar design. The plastic wind deflector for the driver’s cabin was made by Dnipropetrovsk-based company MDS. Basically, it was created by our engineers together with the European company ES Engineering, which helped with the electronics in the head cars, while our designers worked on the rest of the train. It is essentially our own product. There are 300 designers and 150 technologists working at our plant.”

Did you create and make trains at your own expense? How much did it cost?

“We invested over UAH 1,200 million in the production of economy-class passenger transport, including electrical trains. The price of a two-system high-speed nine-car electrical train for interregional transportation made by the Kriukov Car Building Works is UAH 200 million inclusive of the VAT (UAH 166.667 million without the VAT, or USD 20.9 million).

“To compare, the price of a Hyundai electrical train is USD 29.2 million or USD 35 million inclusive of the VAT.

“Two electrical trains were made using the plant’s own financial resources. The government has so far not allocated a penny for their production, testing or purchase.”

Do you receive a VAT refund?

“Yes, it is returned automatically. Today, almost all major companies have the VAT refund.”

What is the full capacity of the plant? How many cars can you make per year?

“We can build 300 passenger cars. Among them, there are about 50 subway cars and 250 passenger ones. But the number of freight cars is significantly larger. For example, last year we made 11,000 of them. There are nine thousand workers employed at our plant.”

Why did the interdepartmental commission give the permission for making eight more experimental trains, are the two already existing ones not enough for the testing?

“When a new product is made, a test party is assigned. There is a specific number of kilometers traveled required – these trains must run 250,000 kilometers for us to make sure that the product is truly reliable.”

When do you expect the signing of the purchase contract for EKr1 to happen?

“It all depends on money. We made these trains by order of Mykola Azarov’s Cabinet of Ministers, when the matter of creating high-speed transportation for Euro-2012 was discussed. At the moment, Ukrzaliznytsia really does not have free funds for this. That is why we expect the government to provide the money, or at least to guarantee a loan. We are going to meet with the transport minister and the prime minister sometime soon and try to find a solution.”

Are other countries interested in buying this train?

“Before offering it to other countries, we need to show it in Ukraine. That is how we offered passenger cars to Belarus, and then started exporting them to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. At the moment, we are negotiating with Moldova.”

Ukrzaliznytsia plans to purchase almost 500 new locomotives. Could your plant tender for this contract?

“We can do it. But we need time, two or three years, to create the first model. This is very complicated equipment.”

What is the current situation with the KRCW trains in the Kyiv subway? Are you getting any new orders?

“At the moment, there are six of our trains running in the Kyiv subway. Besides, we test a new induction train there. Unlike conventional trains, it runs on the alternating current. This allows to significantly save energy. Besides, it is equipped with lighter cars. It is a modern train. And the subway helps us a lot with its implementation. Basically, it is our joint project.”

Recently, according to the data from the state website smida.gov.ua, some owners of the plant changed. Who are they?

“I would not say that the owners changed, it is just that one share package changed hands from one company to another. But the main package belongs to the plant staff. They own more than 70 percent of shares.”

And who is the owner of the rest of the shares?

“I am the chairperson of the plant’s board, I cannot tell you who owns the shares.”