Strizh (train)


The Strizh is a Russian locomotive-hauled, low-floor, high-speed express train.

Main information

The trains have been running between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod since 1 June 2015 and between Moscow and Berlin since 17 December 2016.
On the Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod line, they make 1 to 3 stops, linking the two cities in 3 hours 35 minutes. The cars are pulled by an EP20 locomotive.
In 2016, Russian Railways also connected Moscow and Berlin using the Strizh. The travel time between the two cities is a little over 20 hours.
For 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russian Railways purchased wide-bodyshell Talgo trains for other services. The cars will be pulled by EP1 locomotives in east of Mariinsk, while EP20 in west of Mariinsk.
In Kazakhstan, wide-bodyshell Talgo trains have operated since 2013, built by Tulpar-Talgo.
In 2016, wide-bodyshell Talgo trains underwent trial runs in India.

Lines

The Strizh train currently operates on two lines:
The Strizh trains run between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod since 1 June 2015. They make 1 to 3 stops on the line: in Dzerzhinsk, Kovrov and Vladimir. The travel time between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod is between 3 hours 35 minutes, when it stops only in Vladimir, and up to 3 hours 50 minutes with 3 stops.
The cars are pulled by an EP20 locomotive.
Another fast train, the Lastochka operates on the same line but makes 6 stops: in Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Vladimir, Kovrov, Vyazniki, Gorokhovets and Dzerzhinsk, travelling between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod in 4 hours 6 minutes.

Moscow – Berlin line

The Strizh trains run between Moscow and Berlin since 17 December 2016. The length of the line is 1,896 km. The initial schedule was 2 trains per week, between Moscow Kurskaya and Berlin Ostbahnhof, linking both stations in 20 hours 14 minutes westbound and 20 hours 35 minutes eastbound. The trains leave from Moscow on Saturdays and Sundays, and from Berlin on Sundays and Mondays.
They make intermediate stops in Smolensk, Orsha, Minsk, Brest, Terespol, Warsaw, Poznan, Rzepin and Frankfurt.
The Strizh trains to/from Berlin leave and arrive at the station Moscow Smolenskaya instead of Moscow Kurskaya. Between June 2017 and June 2019, some modernization work on a 100 km railway section between Warsaw and Poznan will force the trains to take a detour which will make the trip longer. After this renovation the speed limit will be 160 km/h on all the length of this section.
Moscow and Berlin are also connected once weekly by the non-Strizh trains from the Moscow–Paris line, which depart from Moscow on each Wednesday evening and from Berlin on each Saturday morning. These trains, using RIC wagons, link both cities in about 24 hours.

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