High-Speed Railway to Link Moscow and Minsk

RF transport minister Andrey Nikitin and Belarussian transport and communications minister Aleksey Lyakhnovich have signed a bipartite memorandum on cooperation in designing and constructing a high-speed railway between Moscow and Minsk, the RF Government press office said. The new mainline will be some 715 km long. The specialized rolling stock to run the new railway will be capable of operating at a speed up to 400 km per hour thus cutting the travelling time between the two capitals from the current 7-9 hours to just 3 hours. The passenger flow between Moscow and Minsk is expected to grow up to 5.8 million people per annum. Active construction on the Minsk section of the railway is to start after the key objects of the first high-speed railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg are put into operation. Photo: RF Government press office