OREANDA-NEWS. June 21, 2011. Russian Railways held a meeting of its Science and Technology Council (STC) at the Company’s head office on 15 June 2011 to discuss a Concept for Modernising Existing Rail Infrastructure.

The Concept aims to meet the greatly increased demand for passenger services expected during the 2018 World Cup, which will be held in Russia. It was drawn up by the Institute of Transport Economics and Development (ITED), a subsidiary of Russian Railways, in conjunction with the departments at the Company which will be involved.

The meeting was attended by the Company’s senior management, representatives of legislative and executive authorities, design institutes and construction companies and public organisations.

"The Concept should become a practical tool for solving the task set by the Russian Government to develop proposals for transporting passengers and fans to the 2018 World Cup venues," said Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways and Chairman of the STS. "It should also serve as a way to develop and modernise Russia’s rail transport in general."

As ITED Managing Director Fedor Pekhterev noted when addressing the meeting, modernising Russia’s railway infrastructure is essential to transport the large number of fans and tourists between the venues of the 2018 World Cup.

Russia’s bid book was based on holding the 64 matches at stadia with a capacity between 45,000 and 90,000 people in 13 different cities, so during the relatively short duration of the World Cup, many people will be travelling between the different venues.

High-speed-speed passenger rail services are the best way to transport fans and tourists quickly, punctually, safely and in all weather conditions. The experience of similar large sporting events in other countries shows that developing this such services is a prerequisite for high-quality transportation services during the World Cup.

The study identified the need to implement projects in the following areas:
High-speed passenger services at speeds of up to 300-400 kph on dedicated lines between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan with a further extension to Yekaterinburg.
High-speed passenger services at speeds of up to 160-200 kph between Moscow - Kharkov - Rostov-on-the-Don - Krasnodar - Adler and between Moscow and Yaroslavl.
Faster passenger trains in order to ensure acceptable travel times between venues. This applies to a number of routes in the Volga region, linking Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Samara, Volgograd, Kazan with each other and with Moscow, and also connecting Russia’s central region with Kaliningrad, Russia’s enclave on the Baltic Sea.
High-speed international connections to bring foreign tourists to the tournament’s venues on the lines between Moscow - Minsk - Warsaw - Berlin, Moscow - Kiev, Moscow - Riga and St Petersburg - Tallinn.
Constructing new and developing existing intermodal passenger hubs and links between airports and cities to transport passengers from major airport to city centres where matches are taking place. Existing hubs include Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Samara, while Kazan, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Krasnodar and Yaroslavl will be developed.

During the implementation of the projects outlined in the Concept, it is planned to organise test runs with a journey time of 2 to 5 hours between venues, in particular, Russia’s central region (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod), the south region (Rostov-on-the-Don, Krasnodar, Adler) and the Volga region (Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Saransk, Samara).

If it proves impossible to reduce travel time between venues to 5 hours on a number of routes (Moscow - Kazan, Saransk, Samara, Rostov-on-the-Don, Krasnodar, Russia, the Company plans to organise rapid passenger services with times of between of 8 to 12 hours on comfortable night trains.

The required amount of additional fast trains in all directions during the World Cup is estimated at up to 70 pairs a day, depending on the stage of the tournament.

Following the discussion of the Concept by the Scientific and Technical Council, comments and suggestions will be drawn up and a revised draft sent to the Ministry of Transport and the Russian government’s Commission on Transport and Communications.