January 16 – Russian cities hosting 2018 World Cup matches should be linked by an €4 billion (£3 billion/$5 billion) integrated high-speed rail network, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.
Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup on December 2 and matches are to be held in 13 cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don and Sochi.
High-speed rail service currently operates on three lines: Moscow-St. Petersburg, Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg-Helsinki.
But Putin now wants to expand the service to make it easier for the hundreds and thousands of foreign fans expected to flock to Russia to support their teams in 2018.
“I think that we have to correct the programme for development of high-speed railways, speed up timetable for the opening of objects and look into new routes,” Putin said.
“We should think how to connect in one high-speed network the main cities where the World Cup matches will be held in 2018.”
Russia’s Transport Minister Igor Levitin said high-speed Sapsan trains supplied by Siemens, as well as other trains, might be used for connecting the cities, adding that “everything depends on investors”.
He also said that a separate company might be created to control the high-speed transportation provided by Sapsans.
A stake in the company, which will be a subsidiary of Russian Railways, may be subsequently sold to private investors, Levitin said.
He said high-speed traffic was profitable and that “passengers are ready to pay for speed and comfort.”
Putin said the Government was increasing funding of the railway sector every year, adding that more than 180 billion rubles (£4 million/$6 billion) had been appropriated to develop the sector last year, up from 103.2 billion (£2.1 billion/$3.4 billion) rubles in 2009.