Joe Biden traveled in a railcar upgraded by PESA Bydgoszcz

The railcar, which US President Joe Biden traveled from Poland to Kyiv, was modernized in 2005 at the PESA Bydgoszcz plant. It is reported by Railway Supply magazine with reference to Raport Kolejowy. This information was confirmed by the Director for Strategic Projects and Communications of the rolling stock manufacturer.

On Monday, February 20, the President of the United States met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. This visit was kept secret until the very end. Biden took only two journalists on the UZ train – Sabrina Siddiqui of The Wall Street Journal and AP photographer Evan Vucci. The phones of both were confiscated and returned at the US Embassy in Kyiv.

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On Sunday, the presidential plane landed at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport. A quarter of an hour later, the column with Biden moved towards Przemysl. At the station, the cars stopped right in front of the railcar. According to Siddiqi, all the windows on the train were closed. The journalists were placed in separate railcars that had no connection with the president. Most of the train was occupied by security.

What does the railcar used by President Joe Biden look like? Refurbished in 2005 by PESA Bydgoszcz, the wagon has a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and two bathrooms. The interiors are equipped with air conditioning and modern electronic devices. The design team of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk was responsible for the interior design. The car was built on special SUW 2000 bogies with variable gauge, which made it possible to move on tracks of various gauges.

This is not the only railcar produced by PESA Bydgoszcz used during the war in Ukraine. Since the first days of Russian aggression, the head of the board of UZ, Olexandr Kamyshin, has been moving in a special Pesa 610M railcar. This is an inspection car, produced in a single copy in 2004. The head of the UZ uses it as a mobile command post.

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