THE first of a new fleet of 18 Ivolga 4.0 EMUs built by Transmashholding (TMH) entered service on Line 4 of the Moscow Central Diameters (MCD) network on May 2.
The 11-car train is the fourth generation of the Ivolga platform built by TMH at Tver Carriage Works. 97% of the components used in the new train are sourced from within Russia.
The new 160km/h trains can carry 2530 passengers, an increase of around 100 compared with previous variants of the train. The addition of nine extra doors to enable rapid metro-style boarding and alighting provides the increase in capacity. The new Ivolga is also equipped with onboard Wi-Fi, smart lighting, passenger information screens and power sockets for passengers.
Testing of the train had been taking place at the Scherbinka test circuit in the west of Moscow since November.
Mr Maksim Liksutov, deputy mayor of transport for Moscow, confirmed that 53 new trains will be introduced on the MCD this year. “By the end of 2024, we plan to update the rolling stock on long-distance commuter routes on Line D3. And on D4, we will complete fleet replacement by the end of 2025,” he says.
Moscow’s Department of Transportation has said previously that it will order 95 Ivolga EMUs for the MCD network by 2025.
Moscow has been engaged in an extensive fleet replacement programme since 2011, during which the average age of rolling stock has fallen from 24 to eight years. Rail’s share of intra-city trips has also almost doubled during this period, partly fuelled by the opening of the MCD suburban network. The fourth and longest of the lines, the 86km route from Aprelevka in the west to Zheleznodorozhny in the east via the city centre, opened in November.
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