Russia is planning to build a high-speed rail link between Moscow and Saint Petersburg by 2026, the state railway organisation said yesterday (8 October).
The target launch date was confirmed at a meeting between the Russia’s Federation Council and Dmitry Kattsyn, head of high-speed projects at Russian Railways.
No cost estimates were given for the work, but Moscow Times reports that the government had previously estimated the cost at $23bn.
No date has been set for beginning work. Kattsyn said planners were still considering four possible routes for the 650km line.
However, he added that a link between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod would be launched by 2024. He also said ticket prices between would be about $54, cheaper than on Sapsan trains, the current fastest rail connection between the two cities.
In terms of performance, journey times will be cut from 3h40m to 2h10m, and capacity on the route will increase from 11 million passengers a year to 33 million.
Russia’s other flagship high-speed route, between Moscow and Kazan, has been beset by delays. It emerged last month that the scheduled launch date had been pushed back three years until 2027.
Image: Leningradsky Station in Moscow (Sergey Korovkin/CC BY-SA 3.0)
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