ST. PETERSBURG, May 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Rosatom Corporation and Russian Railways (RZD) plan joint development of high-speed trains on the basis of magnetic levitation (maglev) in Russia.

The companies signed the agreement at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.

Similar trains already operating in Japan, China and South Korea pick up the speed of more than 500 kilometers an hour. The new train in Russia will cover the 9,300-kilometer distance between Moscow and the Siberian city of Vladivostok in less than 20 hours.

This new train will require new rails that could be developed at the Yefremov Institute of the Electrophysical Apparatus on the basis of permanent magnets and superconductive materials, said Rosatom’s Director General Sergey Kiriyenko.

Manufacturing would not depend on imported components, the official added, thus creating a new hi-tech segment of the Russian market able to compete with foreign producers on the global market in the future.