OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2014. "The Company is implementing important projects which the economy needs. Their cumulative effect is much higher than the volume of capital investment. Moreover, increasing such investments during economic slowdowns is consistent with international experience," said Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, who was speaking at a Board Meeting on the Company's work in 2014.

According to Yakunin, as part of its investment budget in 2014, Russian Railways invested a total of 335 billion roubles in fixed assets, reconstructed 3,950 kilometres of railway track, 228 km of the catenary system, 144 km of the automatic blocking system, 711 km of cable communication lines and 27 traction substations.

The Company is also continuing a series of complex projects, such as the modernisation of the railway infrastructure on the Baikal-Amur and the Trans-Siberian Main Lines, the reconstruction of the stretch between Mezhdurechensk – Taishet and the reconstruction of the section between Maxim Gorky – Kotelnikovo – Tikhoretskaya – Krimskaya with a bypassing around the Krasnodar hub.

Vladimir Yakunin mentioned separately the work to develop the Moscow transport hub: "We expect to see passenger trains running on the Moscow Railway Ring as early as next year, in 2015.

In addition, in 2014 the Company continued to implement projects aimed at removing infrastructure bottlenecks and increasing the capacity of the rail network.

Also continued was work on the reconstruction of the bridge over the river Bureya, as well the crossing over the River Don with the construction of a new bridge, the Obluchensky Tunnel.

In August 2014, the Mansky Tunnel on Krasnoyarsk Railways was inaugurated, which resulted in an increase in traffic speeds from 25 kph to 80 kph.

"It is important to note that by an order of the Government of the Russian Federation on 6 November 2014, Russian Railways was defined as the only company to construct the rail infrastructure for the transport crossing across the Kerch Strait," said Vladimir Yakunin.

According to Yakunin, the project to build a high-speed railway line between Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod – Kazan could make a significant contribution to the country's GDP and the economy of the regions through which it passes.

In 2015-2016, the project requires financing amounting to 20.9 billion roubles, with 6 billion roubles needed in 2015 to begin the line's initial design and survey work.

"The development of our country's rail infrastructure is precisely the engine that can drive Russia's economy. For each rouble invested in the Company's projects, the country's economy will benefit from synergies amounting to 1.46 roubles," said the head of Russian Railways.