The first carriages of the Russian high-speed train will be assembled in 2026.

The assembly of the first wagons for the Russian high-speed train will begin in the first months of 2026. This was announced on October 2 by the head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov.

"The development schedule is very tight. Welding of the first car began literally in September. The first seam was welded on September 2, but we plan that the first wagons will begin to be assembled at the beginning of next year," he said.

The head of Russian Railways was shown samples of parts for a train that will run on the high-speed railway (HSR) between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Belozerov noted that the high-speed train project in Russia is developing successfully, and more than 20% of all necessary tests have already been completed. According to him, testing of the train will begin in late 2026 — early 2027.

"The tests will begin earlier, of course: first here in Shcherbinka, then at speeds up to 250 km/h, and then we will enter the newly built Kryukovo–Tver section, where we will reach speeds of 400 [km/h]," Belozerov said.

The head of Russian Railways also stressed that the design and production of rolling stock is carried out on the basis of domestic technologies. Every element of a high-speed train, including trolleys and braking systems, is unique, Belozerov concluded.

On September 20, RBC reported that the Moscow–St. Petersburg high-speed railway project assumes the presence of 16 stations. Two of them will be technical — Tigoda in Novgorod and Gorki in Tver regions. The remaining 14 stops will become passenger stops. Trains will stop at such stations as Leningradsky Railway Station, Rizhskaya, Petrovsko-Razumovskaya, Zelenograd-Kryukovo, Vysokovo, Novaya Tver, Logovezh, Sadva, Vypolzovo, Valdai, Veliky Novgorod, Zharovskaya, Yuzhny and St. Petersburg Main.

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