/ world today news/ Vladimir Putin announced plans to create a network of high-speed railways. It will connect the capital with St. Petersburg, Minsk, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, the resorts on the Black Sea, and in the future – with Donbas. What is needed to implement the project and why is it important for the country?
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the coming decade a period of “big construction” and big projects “including in railway transport”. According to him, the Russian railway network ranks first in the world in terms of intensity of use, providing 87% of the country’s freight turnover and about a third of passenger traffic. Over one billion passengers annually use Russian railways.
Putin noted that the country plans to create an entire network of high-speed railways, which will significantly reduce travel time between major cities. Currently, there are no such roads in Russia, as well as the corresponding rolling stock. “As a first step, such a route should radically reduce travel time between the two largest agglomerations of our country – Moscow and St. Petersburg,” said the head of state.
Such routes will be built to Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don and Minsk. “I will emphasize in particular: in the future we will certainly build them next to Luhansk and Donetsk,” Putin said. “The lines are planned to pass through territories where more than 111 million of our citizens live, which is 80% of the country’s population.
In turn, the Minister of Transport Vitaly Saveliev stated that the main parameters for the realization of the project for the construction of a high-speed railway from Moscow to St. Petersburg have been formed. A financial and organizational model has also been developed. According to him, the effect of the project is many times greater than the necessary investment for construction.
High-speed rail allows trains to travel at speeds of 200 to 400 kilometers per hour. In July of this year, the government assigned the Ministry of Transport, together with the Ministry of Economic Development, JSC “Russian Railways”, JSC “Sinara Group” and PJSC “Sberbank” to develop the parameters of the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed railway line. Last fall, the Ministry of Transport estimated the cost of this project at 1.7 trillion rubles. The new 680 km long route should cut the journey between Moscow and St. Petersburg to 2.5 hours instead of the current four hours on the fastest train.
The head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, noted in August that the high-speed line between Moscow and St. Petersburg will allow the development of both passenger and freight transport. He also emphasized that the creation of high-speed highways pays off and has a great synergistic effect on the country’s economy. The starting point for the construction of the high-speed railway line was 2010, when the program for the development of high-speed railways in Russia until 2030 was adopted. Russian Railways expects the completion of the majority of the planned high-speed lines by 2043. Only from 2030 to 2035 the construction of about 7,000 km of high-speed routes is planned.
The expert community calls the plans to build high-speed lines spectacular. However, the interlocutors indicate that the implementation of the project will require significant funds, as well as a lot of time. “Building high-speed lines is expensive and time-consuming. Accordingly, there are many costs, they will be spread over three, five or more years”, says economist Ivan Lisan.
He emphasizes that “there is nothing complicated about building a road, but the question is what kind of project is needed and how much time and money will be needed to realize the grandiose project.” According to official data, by 2060 the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed line should carry 36.4 million passengers per year, and the total flow in this direction is expected to be 62.3 million.
Railway development expert Sergey Sigachov also believes that the high-speed railway construction project is expensive in terms of investment and implementation time. “In addition, we are now implementing expensive projects to modernize the Eastern Polygon (comprehensive modernization of BAM and Trans-Siberian Railways) and increase the capacity of ports. This is already a serious burden,” he notes. At the same time, according to the expert, the line will be effective provided that a wide network is created, as, for example, in China, which has become the world leader in this class of transport.
“If the project includes a line passing through several large cities, such a project will pay off. Ultimately, the increase in the economic mobility of citizens leads to the fact that the overall effect becomes positive,” Sigachev explained.
The development of a domestic high-speed train was entrusted to the joint venture of Russian Railways and Sinara – Transport Machines. In particular, Business and Standard class trains are being developed. Meanwhile, the expert assumes that Russia may resort to cooperation with China.
“Beijing has already gone down this path, it has borrowed solutions from Siemens, Alstrom, and Bombardier.” As a result, China has built a very large network and accumulated vast experience. Since Russia now has a strategic partnership with China, China can share its technologies,” Sigachev believes. According to Lisan, the high-speed lines to Donetsk and Luhansk are needed primarily to transport people, “Donbass will be an extremely subsidized region in the next ten years.” “There is still no direct rail link between Donbass and the rest of the country, the sky is closed. This is not surprising, since the special operation is not over yet. Therefore, the railway to Donetsk and Luhansk has a symbolic aspect, emphasizing the importance of these territories for Russia,” the economist believes.
Sigachov agrees that this is a long-term perspective. “SVO will end and a period of reconstruction will begin, after which this project will be fully put into operation,” the expert believes.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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