the cost of the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed railway will be clear in 2-3 months – Kommersant

Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told reporters that the financing scheme for the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed railway (HSR) will be finalized within 2-3 months. The highway itself can be built within five years.

“Sources of financing have now largely been identified. A large financial scheme has already been assembled; its legal and organizational aspects are now being finalized. I think that everything will be completed within literally two or three months,” said Marat Khusnullin (quoted by TASS).

On November 15, 2023, Mr. Khusnullin stated that the timing, cost and stages of high-speed railway construction could be determined at the beginning of 2024. Then he explained that there was no certainty about the start of construction, since the highway project was at the stage of tracing and studying the financial side of construction.

“The design of the route is already underway, the routing has been chosen, the entrances to Moscow and St. Petersburg are also already being worked out. Therefore, I think the route will be built within five years,” the Deputy Prime Minister said today.

It was initially assumed that the high-speed railway would be ready by 2017, but the project was postponed. In 2023, President Vladimir Putin announced the need for its implementation. It is expected that the prototype will be presented in 2026, and by 2028 they plan to make almost 30 trains. The HSR itself is planned to be completed by 2027. The cost of construction of the main section – St. Petersburg – Zelenograd – was estimated by the Ministry of Transport at 1.7 billion rubles. Russian Railways plans to spend another 200 billion rubles to connect the line with Moscow.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Train Idea”.