Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean rolling stock manufacturer, said Wednesday it has reached a $100 million train maintenance service contract with Ukraine’s public railroad company.

The deal with Ukraine Railway Speed Company, the operator of state-run Ukrainian Railways, calls for maintenance and repair work to be conducted on the 90 high speed inter-city trains built by Rotem for the country under an agreement sealed in late 2010. The electric-powered trains have a top speed of about 160 kilometers per hour and a 1,520 millimeter gauge.

The train manufacturer said the contract covers service support for just over five and a half years.

“The contract signifies the company’s growing stature, not only in the building of rolling stocks, but in operations and maintenance, and railroad-related electrical and machinery sectors,” Hyundai Rotem said.

Hyundai Rotem said that if it can win additional train orders from Kiev, the size of the service contract will grow.

The company also said that by winning both the high-speed train and maintenance contracts, it is well placed to secure more orders from the country that is expected to inject around 4 trillion won ($3.4 billion) to revamp its rail system in the coming years. 

(Yonhap News)