The president of Russian Railways has met with government officials in Moscow to discuss the redevelopment of the city’s Little Ring Railway – a once vibrant passenger railway which now serves just a few industrial sites on the outskirts of the Russian capital.
Vladimir Yakunin spoke with city mayor Sergei Sobyanin this week about upcoming projects – estimated to cost around 236 billion roubles – to improve passenger rail infrastructure on the Moscow transport hub.
Yakunin confirmed that a team is currently designing the rail infrastructure facilities for the new ring railway, which once complete could lead to the construction of 30 roadside stations and 100 pairs of electric trains a day running along two dedicated tracks.
The railway, which was built between 1902 and 1908, originally supported passenger services, stopping at 17 stations around the city centre.
Yakunin said: “The Moscow railway hub is one of the largest in the world and the busiest in the Russia’s railway network.
“It handles over half of the country’s suburban passenger traffic and about 23 per cent of its long-distance passengers.
“About 1.3 million passengers use Moscow region’s rail transport services every day.”
Yakunin and Sobyanin also considered proposals to develop the infrastructure of suburban railway lines that currently run at 100 per cent capacity.
The parties also discussed developing the areas surrounding railway stations and replacing railway surface level crossings and pedestrian walks and highways.
The plans are all part of a 2012-2020 programme of improvement’s to Moscow’s rail network.
The document will be coordinated with the Moscow city government and funded jointly by Russian Railways, the Moscow city government and Russia’s federal authorities.
