OREANDA-NEWS. July 18, 2013. The four participants in the partnership Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft mbH have announced the next step to implement a broad-gauge freight rail corridor to Vienna via Slovakia, which will link Central Europe with Russia's Pacific coast and Asia's rapidly growing markets.

The national railway companies of Russia, Slovakia, Austria and Ukraine make up the four members of the partnership. On 5 July 2013, they stated in the Austrian capital Vienna that a tender to carry out a detailed assessment of the technical and environmental aspects of the project would be announced soon.

The tender's announcement will help pave the way for the future construction of a dedicated 430km freight line from Kosice in Slovakia to Vienna. On completion of construction, a new direct route from Vienna to Russia's Pacific coast and a new Eurasian corridor will arise which will greatly enhance the competitiveness of rail transport and lend impetus to economic growth and cooperation.

During the meeting, the President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin said:

"We continue to work together to link the markets of Europe and Asia. The Russian railway system is a key element in the Eurasian transport bridge. Many European countries are experiencing a significant shortage of freight for transport by rail, so the emergence of new freight flows on their networks will make a huge difference. This project is focused on reducing freight delivery times by 50% compared to the maritime route and to increase the through capacity of the railway infrastructure."

"The next few years are expected to see substantial growth in trans-Eurasian freight traffic. A dedicated freight corridor will make for a direct connection between Europe and Asia and create a competitive, multi-modal route in comparison to maritime transport," said Stefan Glinka, CEO of Zeleznice Slovenskej republiky (ZSR). ZSR (Railways of the Slovak Republic) is one of the members of the partnership Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft mbH.

The tender will be for the design and survey work to determine the technical possibilities and the key project decisions, an assessment of the social and environmental aspects, as well as the definition of the corridor's boundaries and route.

It will also be necessary to begin carrying out more research separately to prepare the project's financial and business plan, including a more detailed assessment of the volume of traffic and the integration of the subsidiary projects.

The new transport corridor will connect Europe's centre directly with the rapidly growing Asian markets, providing a steadily growing, competitive and efficient way to deliver freight. It will become a major source of revenue by attracting infrastructure investment to the participating countries. The total investment will amount to 6.36 billion euros. Preliminary studies have shown that the construction and operation of the broad-gauge railway line will create the equivalent of 642,000 full-time jobs.

Christian Kern, CEO of Osterreichische Bundesbahnen (OBB), the Austrian national railway company, said:

"OBB's participation in the project confirms Austria's central role in connecting East and West. From an economic point of view, this infrastructure project is very beneficial for the region, which is why we are very pleased to see the beginning of this new stage. It is important to note that the project's impact on the environment was also included in the list of priorities from the very outset. It is therefore absolutely logical that the project is in full compliance with all the European Union's requirements."

New research will carry on from the pre-project engineering and design work done in 2011, which showed that the project will provide a multi-billion euro return in 33 countries in Europe, the CIS and Asia.

The heads of the four railway companies in the partnership are confident that the new research will be an important step towards the creation of a new Eurasian freight corridor. In particular, Sergey Bolobolin, Managing General of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznica, UT) said:

"The tender is key to the project's success and will make it a reality. This project is crucial for Ukraine's transport system and economy as a whole. It provides ideal solutions to several problems at once: it stimulates economic growth and employment and provides an optimal rail alternative. We are very pleased with this news and are confident that our excellent cooperation with our project partners will continue."