First Latvian RegioPanter Under Construction

Škoda Vagonka is currently welding the first bodyshells for the RegioPanter EMUs for Pasažieru vilciens (PV), which ordered 32 four-car sets in July 2019. Their production will be carried out entirely in Ostrava and this is the first order for trains from the RegioPanter family for the 1,520 mm gauge.

Designated Type ŠKODA 16Ev, each unit consists of three car types:
- end car G, powered, a 2'Bo' axle arrangement,
- intermediate car M, powered, a 2'Bo' axle arrangement,
- intermediate car P, non-powered, a 2'2' axle arrangement.

The trains have a maximum design speed of 160 km/h and are designed as dual-voltage (3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz). As Latvian electrified lines are currently supplied only by DC voltage, the RegioPanters will be delivered with the 3 kV traction equipment only. Components for the 25 kV voltage, which would require complex interior dismantling, will be fitted to the trains from the factory. The remaining 25 kV 50 Hz components form an option and can be ordered at a later date.

16Ev is the first EMU from Škoda Vagonka's production to be designed to take full advantage of the width of the Russian „T“ loading gauge according to GOST 9238-83. Its use allows the production of a train with a bodyshell width of 3,430 mm, which is approximately 600 mm more than have standard trains on central European lines.