Hyundai Rotem shipped high-speed trains for delivery to Uzbekistan ahead of schedule. The Uzbekistan deal marks the first overseas export of Korea's domestically produced high-speed trains.
Hyundai Rotem said on the 10th that it held a "maiden shipment ceremony for Uzbekistan high-speed train formation" at Masan Port in Changwon, South Gyeongsang. The event was attended by Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Jamshid Abdukhakimovich Khodjaev, government and political figures from both countries, and Hyundai Rotem executives and employees.
Kim Jeong-hoon, head of the Rail Solutions Division (executive vice president) at Hyundai Rotem, said, "Today's shipment ceremony is a very meaningful occasion to present, for the first time on the global stage, the high-speed train technology capabilities we have built up in Korea," adding, "The Uzbekistan high-speed train is a result that symbolizes cooperation and friendship between the two countries."
Earlier, on the 18th of last month, Hyundai Rotem rolled out from the plant and loaded the initial batch of Uzbekistan high-speed trains, seven cars (one trainset). It came 1 year and 5 months after the supply contract was signed in Jun. last year. The batch is scheduled to arrive locally around Jan.–Feb. next year, moving up Hyundai Rotem's delivery timeline by 1–2 months from the original deadline of Mar. next year. Hyundai Rotem also plans to deliver the remaining 35 cars (five trainsets) by 2027.
The trains to be delivered are designed to suit Uzbekistan's conditions. They feature dustproof engineering that ensures stable performance in extreme heat and sandstorms, and they are equipped with broad-gauge bogies for a 1,520-mm track, wider than Korea's standard gauge (1,435 mm). Hyundai Rotem expects the trains to improve infrastructure as they are deployed on a total of 1,286 km of routes, including the 590-km section linking Tashkent, the capital, and Bukhara.
Hyundai Rotem plans to focus its capabilities on securing additional export bases for domestic high-speed trains, building on stable performance in Uzbekistan's high-speed rail project. A Hyundai Rotem official said, "We will be responsible for ensuring that all trains are delivered locally and that after-sales maintenance proceeds smoothly," adding, "We will continue to work with domestic partners to promote the excellence of K-high-speed rail."