OREANDA-NEWS. On April 21, 2008 Russian Railways has announced it intends to develop modern railway stations by taking into account international experience, according to Sergei Abramov, head of the Directorate of Railway Stations, reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

The Company’s plan for its stations means creating the right environment to attract private investment to develop the terminals, says Abramov. This could be achieved on the basis of trust management, long-term leases or joint cooperation. In addition, using modern methods of urban construction, such as the actual physical planning and zoning – would enable planning to be done for the area around stations and take into account existing and projected rail transport facilities, main roads, streets and public transport systems.

Abramov said that during the first stage, standardised technology would be tried at 30 pilot projects to upgrade stations, to be followed by the full implementation of this technology during phase two.

A pilot project to modernise Kursk Station in Moscow is already underway, whose buildings are being renovated and equipped with modern security, navigation and IT systems.

A management company will be selected through an open competition.