The Spanish company is conquering the Russian rail market, one of the world’s largest. Talgo has already sold a number of trains there which will cut travel times without requiring investment in high speed tracks.

Talgo has opened an office in Moscow which will be the starting point for bringing modern trains with the latest technology to the Russian market. This is the culmination of fourteen years of discussions and collaboration between Spain and Russia.

In 2011, Talgo signed a contract with Russian Railways to supply seven long range trains to cover international routes. Three will be used to travel between Moscow and Berlin, which involves changing the rail gauge at Brest in Belarus, near the Polish border. The other four will connect Moscow and Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

The Moscow-Kiev route trains are expected to begin operating within a year, while Moscow-Berlin should begin service in early 2015. The tracks themselves are not designed for high speed trains, but thanks to Talgo’s technology they will offer advanced service which can reduce travel times without requiring infrastructure investment.

Talgo has also been present in Kazakhstan since 2003, supplying trains to connect the former capital of the ex-Soviet republic, Almaty, with the current capital of Astana. Thanks to Talgo travel times have been reduced by 40%, from 21 hours to 13 hours.

In 2009 Talgo sold high speed trains to Uzbekistan, another former Soviet republic in Central Asia.