Russian Railways to partner with China to develop high-speed rail

Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin and Chinese Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun recently signed a memorandum of understanding to organize and develop high-speed and "very" high-speed rail lines in Russia.

The countries will collaborate to study the reconstruction of existing rail lines to improve train speeds, and the construction of new high-speed routes in an effort to broaden the Russian-Chinese partnership, according to a prepared statement. Russian and Chinese leaders will develop a joint working group of rail specialists from both countries by Dec. 1.

In June 2008, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a Strategy for Developing Rail Transport through 2030. The strategy calls for developing high-speed rail lines with trains traveling up to 100 mph, as well as very high-speed rail lines capable of handling 220 mph trains. During the next 20 years, passenger-rail track in Russia would increase from 400 miles to 6,700 miles.