Siemens to supply 10 Velaro Novo high speed trains to Vietnam

VIETNAM: Siemens Mobility has signed a €1bn contract with the VinSpeed High Speed Railway Investment & Development Joint Stock Co for the supply of 10 Velaro Novo trains, ETCS Level 2 signalling with ATO, telecommunications, and electrification systems for two high speed lines.

The turnkey contract for rolling stock and railway systems was announced on September 22 and builds on a comprehensive strategic partnership and technology transfer agreement the two parties signed in December.

VinSpeed — which is a subsidiary of industrial group Vingroup — will be responsible for project development, as well as track and civil works.

The seven-car Velaro Novo trainsets will be 200 m long and have a top speed of 350 km/h. They are to have 760 seats, wide body and an ‘empty tube’ structural design, according to the manufacturer.

Siemens says that this will be the world’s first deployment of ATO over ETCS on a national high speed line. The trainsets will be equipped with ATO integrated with ETCS Level 2 onboard units.

Of the two standard gauge high speed lines, one would run east from Hanoi to Hạ Long in Quảng Ninh province and have four stations including one at the future Gia Binh Airport. A second 54 km route is to run south from Ben Thanh in Ho Chi Min City to Cần Giờ on the coast and have two stations, with four more to be added later.

‘Vietnam is entering an exciting new era of mobility, and we are proud to contribute to this transformation’, said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility when the deal was announced on September 22. The Velaro Novo trains ‘consume 30% less energy than previous models and offer more than 10% additional passenger capacity’.