Kirill Lipa, CEO of Transmashholding (Russia's largest manufacturer of passenger cars), spoke about the unique project to create cars for Egypt.
First of all, it is a sanitary and technical unit designed in accordance with local cultural traditions. This was our separate development... This is not used anywhere else. I highly doubt it will be used.
The car bodies were made of stainless steel alloy, and special sensors were installed on the axle boxes of the wheelsets to control the temperature - such measures to adapt the design were taken due to the operation of the cars in both continental and coastal Egyptian climates.
They wash it [the car] with a hose inside. That is, they pour water on it. Accordingly, the technical specification, in particular, included a requirement that the plywood used on the floor be waterproof. And the same plywood is used there as in shipbuilding. Special plywood, impregnated. We watered it experimentally in front of everyone, put it in a jar of water so that everyone could be convinced that it does not absorb moisture and, accordingly, can be washed in their usual way.
The contract for the supply of 1,300 passenger cars to the Egyptian railways was signed in 2018. The amount of the contract amounted to more than one billion euros. The production of cars was carried out in Russia and Hungary.
