President Putin Approves Construction Of High-Speed Train Connecting Moscow-St.Petersburg

JAKARTA - Russia plans to build a high-speed rail network (HSR), with President Vladimir Putin wanting Moscow-St. Petersburg to be the pioneer of the project.

"This is basically a pilot project, I mean construction in the first phase of the Moscow - St. Petersburg route. This effort must be the first early stages in developing high-speed rail connections in Russia," President Putin said in a meeting discussing HSR, launching TASS February 16.

"This is a fundamentally different level of technology and transportation services, modern work and advanced competence, new opportunities for our citizens and territory," added Putin.

President Putin said Russia needed high-speed routes to increase train capacity, reduce airport density and increase the domestic tourism industry, quoted from Xinhua.

Following the meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the plan to lead the high-speed rail line connecting Russia's two largest cities had been approved.

"High-speed rail lines will be built. The master plan has been agreed upon. Details of the upcoming documents will be adjusted in the process," Peskov explained.

Earlier, Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said the HSR project would require more than 600 billion rubles (approximately 6.5 billion US dollars) from the federal budget.

Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Moscow, along with other interested areas, would participate in financing the HSR project.

It is known that Russia currently does not have a train line specifically designed for high-speed trains, which travel faster than 250 km per hour.

The project has been planned since the late 1960s. In 1992, a joint stock company was founded to build a high-speed rail line between Moscow and St.Petersburg, which is planned to be completed in 2000. However, all decisions made regarding the project were de facto canceled in 1998.