Moscow mayor announces plans to construct rapid rail transit system

MOSCOW. Aug 17 (Interfax) - Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has announced plans to construct a rapid rail transit system which will connect 80% of the Russian population.

"The third project is the development of rapid rail transit lines. You [Russian President Vladimir Putin] and I have discussed this project, you have given it preliminary consideration and have voiced your support, and [we] are working on it. This is not just about a rapid rail transit line between Moscow and St. Petersburg, but ultimately about a southern line and a line to Yekaterinburg, another two rapid rail transit lines to connect 80% of our country's population," Sobyanin said at the launch ceremony for the third line of the Moscow Central Diameters (MCD-3) attended by Putin.

For now, both passenger and cargo trains use the same lines. "This slows down economic development and passenger traffic. This project is a new dawn, a new stage in the development of the transport system of both Moscow [as a] hub and our country," he said.

The Moscow mayor's press service said that the rapid rail transit system will include five projects with lines exceeding 3,700 kilometers and incorporating the home regions of over 80% of the Russian population.

The first rapid rail transit line between St. Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Tver and Moscow will cut travel time between the country's two largest agglomerations 1.8 times, from four hours and five minutes to two hours and 15 minutes. Travel time between Tver and Moscow will be reduced from one hour and six minutes to 39 minutes, and travel time between Veliky Novgorod and St. Petersburg will be cut from three hours and ten minutes to 29 minutes.