OREANDA-NEWS. Alexander Misharin, First Vice-President of Russian Railways, will lead the new high-speed rail project office “Moscow - Kazan”, which will also be staffed by Company vice-presidents and senior managers responsible for finance and economics, passenger transport development, infrastructure operation and organising transportation process, innovational development, construction and cooperation with the authorities and training etc.

The project office will also coordinate the development of the design parameters and mechanisms for its implementation, the development of technical, technological and information solutions used in the construction and operation of high-speed rail and proposals for relevant research.

The next step will be to conduct an open tender for a contract to perform engineering surveys and develop the project documentation for the construction of the Moscow - Kazan section of the Moscow - Kazan - Yekaterinburg high-speed main line in 2013-2014.

“The tender's winner must be decided before the end of 2013. We hope that in addition to Russian design institutes, major foreign design companies will also take part in the tender and bring to the project their experience in designing and organising the construction of similar high-speed railway lines in Europe and Asia and can help construct the line here in cooperation with Russian companies. Exchanging experience, training Russian staff to operate new technologies in design and developing Russia's human resources in advanced design technologies will have a positive impact on the development of the Russian Federation's infrastructure,” said Alexander Misharin.

In preparation for the tender on 15 October 2015, a seminar dedicated to discussing the key aspects of the “Moscow - Kazan” high-speed rail project and the upcoming tender was held under the direction of Alexander Misharin. The seminar was attended by representatives of more than 50 Russian and foreign companies, including design, construction and engineering organisations.

Pre-feasibility studies have shown that the new 770 km railway line will require the construction of more than 340 man-made structures, as well as a number of non-standard bridges across the rivers Oka, Sura and Volga. The line will have about 800 intersections at different levels with infrastructure for other forms of transport.