Belarus: Alexei Lyakhnovich, Minister of Transport and Communications, has announced the news at the joint session of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. Among the measures being considered is the resumption of production at the Stadler plant in Fanipol.
“We are now working with the railway operator to start SKD assembly of multiple units in one of the country’s plants or to create a joint company to resume production at the Stadler plant”, Mr. Lyakhnovich was quoted as saying by the state media BelTA. He mentioned, without naming them, that two Russian “large companies” were involved in the discussion of the project, while there are two producers of railway multiple units in Russia: TMH and Sinara–Transport Machines.
As early as 2023, it was noted that the Belarusian Railway would need more than 90 new diesel trains and 53 electric trains to renew its fleet within 10 or 11 years. This summer, Dmitry Krutoy, the Belarusian ambassador to Russia, announced that the high demand for tickets on the Lastochka EMUs, launched between Moscow and Minsk in 2021, was stimulating interest in purchasing Russian trains.
In recent years, the Swiss manufacturer Stadler has been the main supplier of MUs in Belarus, with a total of 22 FLIRT trains of various modifications delivered in 2021–2022. In 2014, the Polish company Pesa also produced three DP3 diesel trains for the country.
In 2013, Stadler built a plant near Minsk (pictured) to produce trains ordered by Belarus. The plant also assembled FLIRT and KISS EMUs for various countries, Metelitsa trams for St. Petersburg, Russia, and Cochabamba, Bolivia, and metro trains for Minsk Metro. According to Stadler, the plant could produce 400 to 500 cars a year.
In spring 2022, Stadler announced the shutdown of the plant amid sanctions pressure, transfer of its contracts to other plants and relocation of the plant’s employees to Poland and Switzerland. However, in the summer of 2023, it announced its intention to keep the plant in Belarus and resume production once sanctions are lifted, while continuing to provide maintenance and engineering services at the plant itself.
