OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2012. Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, and Russian Railways CEO Vladimir Yakunin to discuss prospects for developing the railway network.

The meeting focused particularly on the Small Ring railway around Moscow, which would ease transport infrastructure congestion and improve the situation on the city’s roads.

Plans to develop express and high-speed railway routes and suburban connections were also discussed.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov reported that the Ministry is currently examining possibilities for establishing express routes from Moscow through Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan to Yekaterinburg, as well as Moscow-Yaroslavl, Moscow-St Petersburg, and Moscow-Sochi, including as part of the preparations for the Soccer World Cup, which Russia will host in 2018.

The President noted the importance of high-speed rail travel in a country as big as Russia, and said that the Government should draft a clear and fully approved plan for carrying out such large-scale project, so that the public has a clear understanding of what will be done, when, how much it will cost, and who will perform the work. 

Mr Putin held the meeting in a train travelling along one of the sections of the line that will form part of the Small Ring Moscow railway.