Siemens shuts down Russian rail business after 170 years
Sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine mean no further foreign support for operator RZD.
SIEMENS announced in early May that it was leaving Russia after more than 170 years, in response to the invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions in place which, barring a major change by the Russian government, are likely to remain in place for many years. The decision affects all of Siemens’ businesses selling everything from washing machines to high-speed trains, but not its business selling medical scanners. Since 2000, Siemens had sold German-made ‘Velaro’ High speed trains – branded ‘Sapsan’ or ‘Peregrine Falcon’ to Russian Railways (RZD) – and has also delivered hundreds of ‘DesiroRus’ EMUs in the last decade, most made or assembled in Russia by joint venture company Ural Locomotives with Russian firm Sinara, which was founded in 2010. This company has also built several hundred ‘Granit’ RZD Class 2ES10 BoBo+BoBo electric locos incorporating Siemensmade electrical components. Siemens has also previously sold modern sleeping cars to RZD built in Vienna and Tver in Russia; these were used for services from Moscow to Berlin, Nice and Paris but have not run since early 2020 due to the pandemic. The ‘Sapsan’ fleet was maintained by a Siemens-run depot outside St Petersburg. This depot will now be run solely by RZD, although as spare parts for the ‘Velaro’ fleet were made in Europe and export is now no longer possible, it is unclear how long the ‘Sapsan’ fleet will remain in service. Some Russian media reports have suggested the trains may be withdrawn from use this summer, although RZD has said it will continue maintenance. Siemens had begun delivery of a second batch of ‘Sapsan’ trains from Germany, with three of the 11 on order fully delivered before the invasion of Ukraine, but all further deliveries have been halted. The other major western train builder with Russian activities is Alstom, which owns 20% of Russian rail engineering, and maintenance firm Transmashholding. Alstom has yet to announce whether it will remain in Russia