Go ahead for construction of Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed rail

Russia President Vladimir Putin in a videoconference. (Image: Mikhail Metzel/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS)

The country’s head-of-state made the announcement on 14 March via teleconference, the Russia-owned news agency TASS said.

At present, one line runs mostly at a 200kmh (124mph) through four Russian oblasts between St. Petersburg and the nation’s capital. The journey takes between three-and-a-half to four hours.

Trains on the new line would run consistently at 250 km/h (155 mph). Travel time from one city to the other is expected to be less than two-and-a-half hours.

Last year, Putin voiced approval to building the new high-speed line and noted, in the future, lines should expand east of the capital city.

“We need to move towards Nizhny Novgorod, to Voronezh, and from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan, from Kazan to the Ural region,” said Putin at the time, referring to locales east of Moscow.

A train arrives at Moscow train station. (Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Reuters)

Discussions on a new link were prominent in 2019, but economic conditions since 2020 put the project on pause. Three lines running from Moscow (two international and one to Nizhny Novgorod) were discontinued in recent years.

Last month, a masterplan for the Moscow-St. Petersburg line was approved, TASS said.

Estimates for the cost of construction have varied since 2019 with figures reported from US$6 billion to $15 billion to $36 billion.