The State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia) suspended the operations of Intercity+ trains manufactured by Hyundai Rotem because of defects in the bodies of railcars. Ukrzaliznytsia’s First Deputy General Director Mykola Serhienko announced this at a press conference, the CFTS correspondent reports.
According to Serhienko, cracks were found in the support structure of the railcars in the train No. 3 during routine maintenance on February 12. Later, signs of similar problems were found on other trains.
As a result, the railway administration suspended the operations of Intercity+ trains and replaced them with other trains to avoid threats to the safety of passengers.
According to Serhienko, a group of experts will arrive from South Korea on Friday, February 14, to join the commission investigating the reasons for these defects. He expects the commission’s findings and the technical solution to this problem to be prepared in the middle of next week, after which a decision will be made on further operation of the Hyundai trains.
The head of Hyundai Rotem’s representative office in Ukraine, Choi Jung Suk, said that the company supported Ukrzaliznytsia’s decision because it considered the safety of passengers a priority. According to him, this is the first time that Hyundai Rotem is encountering similar problems in its rolling stock.
