И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

TEXT В. SOVIET TRAIN FOR HIGH-SPEED SERVICE
(1) The ER-200 was the first high-speed train to be brought into use in our country. It was built by the Riga Car Building Works and intended for fast passenger service on the trunk lines, particularly on the Moscow—Leningrad route.

(2) It was a difficult task for the Soviet engineers to develop a train for running at 200 kph. No wonder that specialists of many institutes and plants took part in de­signing the first Soviet express.

(3) The ER-200 is an electric m-u train fed with d.c. from the overhead wire. It is composed of six two-car pow­er sets¹ fitted with a pantograph and traction equipment and a driving trailer² at each end. Variations in the basic formation (состав) are possible by using two to six two-car power sets.

(4) All passenger saloons are furnished with comfortable two-seat aircraft-like chairs along both sides of the coach. In winter, the electrical heating (отопление) automatically maintains a temperature of 18-20 °C in the saloon. The air-conditioning all coaches are equipped with also contributes to passenger comfort.

(5) The cars have good sound-proofing (звукоизоляция), which ensures a relatively low noise level in spite of the ER-200's high speed.

(6) A special display panel informs the passengers of the correct time and the actual speed of the train.

(7) The motor coaches are furnished with four traction motors. The driving cab contains numerous automatic de­vices and instruments which facilitate the job of the driver and ensure safety of travel at high speeds.