Russian Railways International will provide technical consulting services for the Tawan-Tolgoi to Zuunbayan railway line in Mongolia. Credit: Simon Pielow
Russian Railways International will provide technical consulting services for the Tawan-Tolgoi to Zuunbayan railway line in Mongolia. Credit: Simon Pielow

Ulan-Bator Railways has contracted Russian Railways International for technical consulting services for the Tawan-Tolgoi to Zuunbayan rail line in Mongolia.

Neither company has revealed the financial details of the contract. The contract is expected to be completed in the next 12 months.

Russian Railways International and one of the design institutes in Russia will provide technical consulting services for the railway line. They will provide recommendations regarding the construction work and train operations on the 414km line.

The rail line will connect with Ulan Bator Railway’s central railway line. It will help to transport coking coal from the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine.

Russian Railways International acting managing director Sergey Stolyarov and Ulan-Bator Railways head Damdinsuren Jigjidynymaa signed the agreement. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh both attended the signing ceremony.

In August, the Research Institute of Railway Transport in Shcherbinka, Moscow, tested a high-speed electric train, Lastochka, at its experimental ring.

In June, Russian Railways placed an order worth almost €1.1bn with Siemens Mobility and Ural Locomotives to procure 13 high-speed Velaro RUS trains.

Russian Railways also signed a cooperation agreement with the JSC Tuva Energy Industrial Corporation (JSC TEIC) in 2017 for the construction of the Elegest-Kyzyl-Kuragino Railway Line.

In 2016, Russian Railways began operating a new Moscow to Berlin service. The service uses variable gauge Talgo trainsets and Patentes Talgo in Spain manufactured the train carriages.