Russia’s Ministry of Transport has ordered initial studies to be conducted into upgrading the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railways.
With freight traffic levels expected to grow substantially over the next few years, the Russian government has set out plans to look at modernising the two lines, which stretch for a combined 14,500 kilometres between the east and west of the country.
The studies will look at freight traffic projections and explore potential funding options to carry out improvement works along the network.
Russian Railways has said it plans to invest 50 billion roubles to upgrade the Trans-Siberian Railway by 2015, including improvements to container terminals and rebuilding a section of railway between Karymskaya and Zabaikalsk to pave the way for higher volumes of crude oil to be transported to China.
