The German company Siemens starts to produce high-speed trains Velaro Rus for exploitation in Russia. An official ceremony marking the beginning of the first train production is held in the city Krefeld, today, July 20.
      In May 2006 Russian Railways and Siemens have made a contract on supplying 8 trains that will be fully manufactured in Germany. The total cost of the deal is EUR576 million. A high-speed train Velaro Rus can accelerate up to 330 km/h. Each 250-metre long electrical train will consist of 10 carriages for transportation of 600 passengers.
      The trains` construction has been developed taking into account the technical and climatic conditions of exploitation in Russia.
      Production of the first train is to finish in December 2007. Russian Railways is planning to use the German trains on such routes as Moscow-St. Petersburg and St. Petersburg-Helsinki, and later on some other routes.
      
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      Sources: skavkaz.rfn.ru www.wek.ru