Russia: In recent years, TMH has been consistently presenting projects for low-floor multiple units, beginning with a hydrogen train for Sakhalin and continuing with the EP5N EMU. They are united by a single concept of developing a new multi-functional platform, which is due to become the basis for next-generation urban, commuter and regional trains on the 1,520 mm gauge network as well as a substantial part of TMH’s offer for a wide range of customers.
Low-floor and standardised rolling stock in demand
For decades, a dire need for low-floor designs on the 1,520 mm gauge network has been forming under the influence of the existing passenger infrastructure. Despite massive modernisation of separate transport directions, the majority of passenger platforms — in Russia, other 1,520 mm gauge countries and worldwide — remain low-floor. This condition makes the rolling stock renewal a more realistic solution than a full-scale infrastructure reconstruction, which would entail great investments.
High train platforms have proliferated mainly on the most loaded commuter lines around large agglomerations. Previously, TMH successfully launched serial production of the urban Ivolga EMUs for operation on lines with high passenger flows and short distances between stations. Based on the Ivolga platform, the company has designed 160 km/h EMUs (for the first time fully Russia-designed) and also a train modification with three-door cars. In addition, TMH has started serial manufacturing of asynchronous motors.
Over 120 Ivolgas have so far rolled off the assembly line, and the number continues growing. Meanwhile, TMH engineers have acquired enough experience and competencies and moved to developing standardised rolling stock to serve the majority of regional transportation areas. The company’s specialists have decided to prioritise universality and design a modular platform, which could be tailored to different customer requests. Such a platform implies that multiple aspects need to be taken into consideration, with variants for traction types, from catenary to autonomous solutions, in the first place. Second, a low-floor design and different operational options, including commuter and regional services, are also among the requirements.
A low-floor feature is necessary to provide barrier-free access for passengers. Such construction allows for reducing the number of steps to ensure comfortable boarding and alighting for elder people, passengers with children and people with reduced mobility. Additionally, boarding and alighting become easier and more rapid when the level difference between a railway platform and a train is reduced. Passenger comfort is the factor which turns out to be determinant for people to choose public transport.
Rendering of TMH’s EP5N EMU livery for Belarus. Source: TMH
The anticipated demand for such trains is really impressive. According to the Russian Government’s new concept for the development of commuter rail passenger transportation through 2035, Russia will need around 7,000 new mulitple unit cars with investments totalling more than RUB 1 trillion (almost USD 13 bln). Other countries in the 1,520 mm gauge market are also expected to have substantial fleet renewals, with Belarus planning large procurements of multiple units and Uzbekistan having been significantly investing in the modernisation of its commuter and regional transportation. That is why TMH is considering its new family of low-floor trains not only a niche product for some routes but also a necessary solution for the entire 1,520 mm gauge network.
Single architecture for various purposes
TMH’s low-floor projects date back to the past decade with the EP5DA electric train, whose concept was presented at the PRO//Motion.Expo railway salon in 2019. The new train concept attracted attention with a combination of two solutions, which consequently became the pivotal ideas. These are the application of an asynchronous traction drive and the low-floor entrance area for more comfortable boarding and alighting from low passenger platforms.
Meanwhile, that project was designed using dated principles with a focus on developing a train model according to a customer’s specific requirements or a certain type of traction. Such an approach allows for solving local problems, while future development of a product family is complicated by more engineering and a decrease in standardisation between various train types.
Now, TMH has elaborated another approach. If previously the company was working on separate prototypes or limited product series, from the beginning of the 2020s, TMH has been developing a single architecture for the platform. In 2025, TMH CEO Kirill Lipa indicated that the company had set a goal to design a universal platform that could be used within the holding company for production of multiple units of all types. This concept involves a high level of standardisation of key assembly units and systems while allowing for customisation. The manufacturer plans to apply this single technological basis for production of DC and AC trains, double-deck EMUs, and also various autonomous train modifications. The family of trains based on the universal multiple units platform is designed for a speed of 160 km/h, apart from a hydrogen modification for 120 km/h.
Both the manufacturer and customers will benefit from such an approach. For operators, standardisation means easier maintenance, a shorter list of needed spare parts, and cutting down on costs for personnel training. The manufacturer’s benefits include the possibility to apply unified engineering solutions to different projects, faster launches of new modifications and an increase in efficiency of serial production.
As a result, TMH’s new platform is expected to unite a wide range of operation scenarios without the necessity to elaborate entirely new designs for each market segment, whether urban, commuter, or regional. Two types of projects, hydrogen-powered autonomous trains and AC EMUs, are gradually moving to the implementation phase.
Hydrogen dimension
TMH’s hydrogen train for Sakhalin has become the first project, based on the new-generation universal platform. However, the company points out that its significance extends beyond just a new train model.
As Kirill Lipa states, the project is a technological headstart, first of all. For his part, Alexander Loshmanov, TMH’s deputy general director for passenger transport, indicates that this is a “laboratory project” with the main task to gain practical experience in work with alternative energy sources and to arrive at solutions for future projects.
Rendering of the hydrogen train from TMH. Source: TMH
The hydrogen train is designed in two configurations. The three-car variant will consist of two end cars and a tender, while the four-car trainset will also include one intermediate car. The tender is intended to house the propulsion system, comprising hydrogen fuel cells and batteries. The hydrogen storage system is placed on the tender’s roof and has a capacity of 230 kg. Such train configuration has allowed for integrating the new energy system while preserving the basic architecture of passenger cars.
During the work on the project, TMH has acquired technical solutions and competencies that go outside the framework of hydrogen traction. The company is now honing its skills in hybrid power units, energy recovery systems, and energy management algorithms as well as operation and maintenance of new equipment. These best practices would become an important result of the project and ensure future development of TMH’s entire low-floor family.
The EP5N on the way to serial production
While the TMH hydrogen train serves to embrace new technologies, the EP5N EMU should become the next step in the development of the new platform. At TMH, this model is considered one of the first large-scale products based on the new architecture, which will be offered to a wide range of customers in the 1,520 mm gauge market.
According to Alexander Loshmanov, the EP5N will be the second model based on TMH’s universal multiple units platform. A trainset of this model can consist of four to ten cars and is designed to operate on AC lines at speeds of 160 km/h. The project’s key features include the application of an asynchronous traction drive, a low-floor entrance area, and the driver’s desk positioned centrally in the cab with a possibility for single-person operation.
Model of the low-floor EP5N EMU at INNOPROM. Central Asia in 2026. Source: TMH
However, the project developers say that the key advantage of the EP5N is its adaptation for the infrastructure. Now passengers can enter a car right from the platform with no need to overcome the difference in heights, says Mr Loshmanov. That accelerates boarding and alighting and contributes to the accessibility of railway transportation for all passenger categories.
New-generation production capacities
For TMH, the development of the new platform has become not only engineering but an industrial project as well. Serial manufacture of new-generation trains calls on a facility able to ensure production of advanced rolling stock with a high level of localisation and opportunities for further scaling up.
The car-building plant in Demikhovo is the site. Part of TMH, it is one of the world’s largest facilities for production of multiple units. Since 1992, the Demikhovo plant has designed and mastered serial production of the ED2T, ED4, ED4M, EP2D, EP3D and EP2DM families of electric trains, with over 11,000 cars delivered so far. TMH’s plant in Demikhovo has produced around 70% of the EMU fleet deployed in Russia, according to the manufacturer’s data.
At the TMH plant in Demikhovo. Source: TMH
In recent years, the facility has been undergoing large-scale modernisation. The RUB 1.8 bln (USD 23.3 mln) investment programme, supported by a soft loan from the Industrial Development Fund, is aimed at the ongoing building of technological competencies. At the same time, the manufacturer is expanding production of its own components, including traction equipment and reduction drives, with an annual output of these components reaching 1,200 units. All that reflects TMH’s general line towards the development of local components in order to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
