The vehicles will be formed into 21 sets and will be maintained by the supplier for 15 years in a deal worth around €1bn.
Components for the trains will be manufactured at Talgo's Spanish production units in Rivabellosa (Alava) and Las Matas (Madrid), with final assembly taking place at plants in Kazakhstan, though a technology transfer deal with the Tuplar-Talgo facility in Astana, which opened in December 2011.
The trains will be designed for 200km/h operation on 1520mm-gauge track and have been designed to withstand extreme ambient conditions and temperatures as low as -50°C. They will also meet customs union requirements for Russia and Belarus.
KTZ awarded Talgo a contract in November 2010 to supply 420 vehicles, which are being assembled in Astana. The Astana plant has capacity to produce up to 150 vehicles per year, and last year assembled a total of 52 coaches. Tuplar-Talgo expects to build 158 coaches this year.
