Type testing of new Skoda train on Estonian railways begins

TALLINN – Skoda Group, in cooperation with Estonia's state-owned passenger train operator Elron and railway infrastructure company Eesti Raudtee AS, will start type tests of the Skoda EMU 21Ev passenger train on Estonia's public railway network on Tuesday morning.

The electric train will be tested in the 3 kilovolt (kV) overhead traction contact system between the stations of Paaskula and Paldiski and Paaskula and Turba.

"The first train has to run for 6,000 kilometers without major technical incidents and without passengers, during which time the reliability and compliance with the terms of the contract will be assessed," Elron CEO Lauri Betlem said. 

"Type tests are conducted on trains that have not previously operated on Estonian railways to determine their suitability for operation on Estonian infrastructure and to serve as a basis for train certification. After the successful completion of type tests, all the trains must also undergo a control period of 5,000 kilometers in service with passengers. A total of at least 70 different tests will be conducted on each train arriving in Estonia," the CEO said.

The electric passenger train Skoda EMU 21Ev is dual-system, capable of running in both the 3 kV and 25 kV overhead traction contact system.

"We can test the train in the existing 3kV network and, starting from February, also in the 25kV contact network being built by Eesti Raudtee AS between Tamsalu and Jogeva," Betlem said. "The new trains are planned to start carrying passengers on the Tallinn-Tartu route from September next year, when the infrastructure owner Estonian Raudtee has completed the electrification of the entire Tapa-Tartu section of the railway."

A total of 16 new Skoda electric trains will arrive in Estonia between 2024 and 2026, of which 11 are long-distance trains and five are suburban trains. A long-distance train will have 236 seats, 15 bicycle places, a catering area and numbered seats. A suburban train will have 263 seats and 18 bicycle places.

The schedule of the Narva and Viljandi directions can be supplemented using the diesel trains to be released from the Tallinn-Tartu route.