Putin takes the freeway, not the BCM?

29 March 2019

Fast ride from Moscow to Kazan, you may not have a high-speed train, and bus

Today "Kommersant" wrote that the Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the project of high-speed railway (HSR) Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod. According to the publication the final decision is currently pending.

It had reduced the travelling time from Moscow to Kazan with the implementation of the HSR project

Prior to that, the HSR project was supported by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who said earlier in the year that: "...the construction of high speed railway is a high degree of sophistication". And yet President Putin has publicly questioned the issue of construction of high-speed (350-400 km/h, the estimated travel time from Moscow to Kazan – 190 min) of the highway because of its high cost (estimated from ₽of 1.28 to 1.7 tlrn), of what became known during the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov (despite the fact that to mention the BCM to Kazan Putin has ceased since November 2017 – ed.). However, all the i's HSR project will be delivered on 11 April at a special meeting on this issue with participation of the President.
 

A promising scheme of construction of HSR in Russia until 2030, developed by the Railways in 2013

At the same time the President has supported the initiative for the construction of a toll highway to Kazan, the construction of which is estimated "only" at ₽540 billion (according to others in ₽650 billion). On the subject of high-speed traffic Putin has set the task to work out a business plan for the BCM according to the canonical route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, as there is "more reliable traffic flow" (according to the calculations of the Railways is of the order of 14 million passengers per year, with 42 pairs of trains per day, an average of one train per hour in each direction). The speed limit on the HSR between St. Petersburg and Moscow will also be of the order of 350-400 km/h, which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to 150 min. And, in the early 2010s, the BCM intends to introduce prior to 2020, but now the time has moved to 2030.
Today the press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov, as reported by WG, told reporters: "the information which appeared, not quite true, or rather not relevant. While different options are under consideration, no final decisions have been made, therefore, to say that one or the other option is completely rejected in favor of another right."
PS Obviously, the last word in the matter of building high-speed rail through Russia to the East of Moscow will be for Chinese investors...