RUSSIA: RZD and Patentes Talgo have signed a memorandum of intent to study the feasibility of using Talgo VII gauge-changing rolling stock on hotel train services between Moscow and Berlin.

RZD will provide forecasts of future passenger volumes and the economic benefits of improved services between Moscow, Minsk and Warszawa. Talgo will loan three passenger cars to RZD for testing at Shcherbinka, and will provide costings for the purchase, maintenance and repair of suitable vehicles.

RZD estimates that at least three trainsets would be required, with Talgo delivering the first within two years of a contract being signed.

Services would be operated by a joint venture to be established in co-operation with the German, Polish and Belarusian railways, with the trainsets maintained in Berlin.