OREANDA-NEWS. On September 30, 2008 Vadim Morozov, First Vice-President of Russian Railways, took part in the III Far Eastern Economic Forum as part of his three-day working visit to Khabarovsk, reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

Addressing the meeting, Vadim Morozov recalled that last June, the Russian Government adopted a national strategy for the development of rail transport down to 2030, with special attention devoted to improving transport security and stimulating economic growth in the country’s Far Eastern Federal District.

The region’s development strategy provides for the fundamental modernisation of existing infrastructure and the large-scale construction of new railway lines.

As a result, by 2030 total investment in the development of the Far East’s rail transport facilities and in new railway lines will amount to nearly 1.6 trillion roubles in 2007 prices excluding VAT.
The construction of several freight and technological lines will facilitate the full development of the Far East’s rich natural resources and mineral deposits, including the Garinsky iron deposit and the Kangalassky and Elgin coal deposits.

“As a result, the density of the railway network in the Far East will increase by more than 84%,” said Vadim Morozov.

Significant attention will be paid to the development of the Trans-Siberian and the Baikal-Amur Main (BAM) Lines. Over the long term, BAM will specialise in handling heavy-duty trains, while the Trans-Siberian will concentrate on specialised container trains and passenger traffic.

In the Far Eastern Federal District, high-speed passenger traffic is planned on the Vladivostok - Khabarovsk line and express suburban trains between Vladivostok and Ussurisk.