OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2012. Belarus and Russia have great prospects for cooperation in railway transport industry, Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich said when visiting the travelling exhibition and lecture complex of the Russian Railways.

“The main goal of the visit is to get familiar with the accomplishments of our neighbors and to see which projects we could take part in,” the head of government said. According to him, Belarus and Russia have good prospects for cooperation in production of rolling stock and cars, development of innovative technologies for the railway industry. “Since the Russian Federation is planning to make serious headway in the industry, there are a lot of opportunities for our enterprises and ministries to participate in the projects both for the needs of the Russian railways and Belarusian railways,” he said.

Production of LED lamps for trains can be one of the possible areas of cooperation, believes Mikhail Myasnikovich. Safety of movement of trains can be another area of partnership. "I think that this work will be continued in the Government. We need to identify specific areas where we can establish cooperation with Russia, our strategic partner,” added the Prime Minister.

Belarus has always paid special attention to the development of railways. This is essential for the strengthening of the transit capacity of the country. “We place special emphasis on transit and must conform to the highest standards in this area. The state has always paid great attention to the development of the railways, which account for 5,500km, 70% of cargo turnover and half of passenger traffic,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister praised the achievements of the Belarusian Railways, its successful efforts to increase cargo traffic, upgrade the rolling stock. “In fact every depot, with a few exceptions, is the sort of a big factory. I think in the future we will start producing commuter trains. This is feasible,” he added.

This year the Belarusian Railways celebrates the 150th anniversary. “This is a wonderful anniversary. We are not that much behind the Russian Railways in terms of age and technical parameters,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. I congratulate the railwaymen on the anniversary and wish them every success in their joint projects with Russian colleagues, he said.

While visiting the travelling exhibition and lecture complex of the Russian Railways Mikhail Myasnikovich familiarized himself with the innovative achievements in railway transport, and visited the exhibition “Modern nuclear technologies. State Corporation Rosatom. The exhibition tells about radiation, its natural sources and the degree of their impact on human beings. This exhibition also features the latest technologies to be used in the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

The head of government also went to see a modern commuter train made by the Swiss company Stadler and a maneuverable diesel locomotive built with the participation of Czech company CZ LOKO.