The German and Polish manufacturers have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at deepening their cooperation in the Polish railway market.
The memorandum provides for the development and assessment of the technical aspects of creating high-speed rolling stock. This is said to be particularly relevant in light of the national operator PKP Intercity’s recently announced tender for the supply of up to 55 trains with an operating speed of 320 km/h.
“We have been working with Siemens Mobility for almost 15 years on projects involving the supply of metro cars to Warsaw and Sofia. We have long been a customer for traction systems for passenger coaches and locomotives, as well as complete onboard ETCS systems for our trains”, said Newag CEO Zbigniew Konieczek.
At present, Newag does not have the capability to manufacture high-speed trains. Konieczek previously told Rynek Kolejowy that the company would only embark on such a project in partnership with a strategic partner.
According to him, developing high-speed rolling stock is a very complex process. At the same time, demand for it in Poland will be limited, and in the EU it will be zero. Konieczek also noted that Newag may submit a bid in the PKP Intercity tender, but that a final decision will be taken after reviewing the technical documentation.
In 2022, local manufacturer Pesa announced that it was working on its own high-speed train project. It may cooperate on this project with Spanish company Talgo.
