OREANDA-NEWS. February 11, 2010. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, spoke at the opening of the II International Business Forum Strategic Partnership 1520: The Baltic Sea Region, which began in Tallinn, reported the press-centre of RZD.

"The Strategy for the Development of Rail Transport in Russia up to 2030 as approved by the Russian Government envisages increasing the volume of transit cargo by a factor of 2.8. Although the crisis has led to a significant adjustment in the economic development in most countries, promoting transit remains one of our priorities. This question is particularly relevant with regard to the railways in the Baltic region," said Vladimir Yakunin.

Yakunin also said that Russian Railways was actively working on the more efficient use of Russia’s transit potential by exploiting the international transport corridors passing through the country, in particular attracting East - West containers to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Транссибирская магистраль

In accordance with the Strategy 2030, it is planned to develop further the capacity of the Trans-Siberian by building over 400 kilometres of new lines to bypass the major railway junctions and more than 700 miles of additional main lines.

"The new lines will mean that as early as 2012, we will ensure a real opportunity to deliver container freight from Russia’s Far East region to our western borders in just 7 days. And by 2015, it will take just 7 days to reach Brest on the Belarusian-Polish border. This will have a real impact on the competitiveness of the Baltic railways," said the Yakunin.

According to Yakunin, Russian Railways has also stepped up efforts to promote the formation of an integrated railway infrastructure for the North - South International Transport Corridor (ITC).
Creating a direct rail link between North-West Europe and Iran via Russia and Azerbaijan will create a 4,500 km land bridge length from the Baltic countries and St. Petersburg to the port of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf and link up North-West and Central Europe with the Middle East and South Asia.

"As a result of this project, the Baltic ports will become the European gateway to South Asia. And we in turn are helping to create a competitive environment for the wider use of Russian ports, especially in the Baltic and Black Seas, to promote the transport of exports from Central Asia," said the President of Russian Railways. Yakunin added that according to experts, the goods market of the North - South ITC will be 25-26 million tons by 2015.