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Some 5 trln roubles to be invested in Russia’s railway infrastructure overhaul in 10 years

According to the prime minister, new railway routes will be launched in the next few years as part of preparations for the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, April 26 (Itar-Tass) — About five trillion roubles will be allocated in the next ten years to develop and overhaul Russia’s railway infrastructure to make the country’s East Siberian and Far Eastern areas more accessible, Prime Minister and President Elect Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

According to the prime minister, new railway routes will be launched in the next few years as part of preparations for the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 and the World Football Cup in 2018. It is also planned to expand the program of high-speed passenger train service.

In 2008-2011, Russian Railways Co. (RZD) invested 1 trillion and 361 billion roubles in its development plans. In 2011 alone, the company’s investment budget increased by 26 percent, Putin noted.

The money was used to overhaul railway terminals in many cities, and to launch high-speed train service between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, and St. Petersburg and Helsinki.

“The company has begun the implementation of projects of intermodal shipments that will link land and air transport into a single transport system,” Putin said. “The Kuznetsovsky tunnel has been built in the Far East that will make access to the ports of Vanino and Sovetskaya Gavan much easier.”

He also spoke about other RZD infrastructure projects that will facilitate the development of southern districts of the Russian Siberian republic of Yakutia.