A Design For The New Latvian EMUs

On 12 February 2020 Pasažieru vilciens (PV) presented a future color design for its new Škoda Vagonka-built RegioPanter EMUs. The proposal was created in cooperation with PV, Škoda Vagonka and Dizaina studija TEIKA of Riga, the work starting in autumn 2019. The selected design is to express dynamics and stability, using three colors - traffic yellow, anthracite gray and dark gray. Yellow was chosen for its functional aspect (a good visibility in a railway environment), while anthracite gray serves both as a functional technical color and as a background for yellow elements.

The new EMUs destined for Latvian operator Pasažieru vilciens will be the first 1,520 mm gauge RegioPanters. Škoda Vagonka announced on 30 July 2019 that it had won the 242 million EUR contract for 32 EMUs, the Latvian authorities having finally dismissed objections raised by Talgo, which was almost confident of having become the winner. It was in the end determined that Škoda Vagonka had submitted the best offer to build these 160 km/h trains, when everything was taken into account, including maintenance over a 35-year lifespan, spare parts provision, staff training, the costs of energy consumption, and suchlike.

Nine of the trains were offered as dual-voltage, this being an advantage during the transition from 3 kV DC to 25 kV 50 Hz of the Latvian electrified network, since timescales for this project could change over the years. The trains, which are scheduled for delivery in 2022 - 23, are intended initially for services from Riga to Aizkraukle, Tukums, Skulte and Jelgava.