Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced ambitious plans for the development of international transport corridor (INTSC), including a seamless railway connection from the Baltic and Barents Seas to the Indian Ocean.
The INSTC could cut transit times from around 45 days (via the Suez Canal) to about 25 days, while also reducing freight costs by up to 30%.
This large-scale project aims to establish a comprehensive transport network that would connect northern Europe to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The plan involves creating railway links that would span across Russia and potentially through other countries to reach these strategic waterways.
The announcement was made on Russia’s Railway Workers’ Day, highlighting the significance of this infrastructure project for the country :
“In Russia, it is necessary to accelerate the build-up of railway infrastructure, including the development of seamless railway communication from the Baltic and the Barents Sea to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.”
“Our agenda includes the construction of high-speed railways as the same time as the Central Transport Hub, the creation of international logistics corridors, the development of the Azov-Black Sea transport direction, the organization of the so-called seamless railway connection from the Baltic and the Barents Sea to the coast of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.”
The development of the industry must be carried out “at a new technological level” based on the needs of the future, creating a reserve “for decades to come,” said the Russian president. Now the Russian railway workers are faced with the task of further modernization of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway. These routes, Putin pointed out, should work in conjunction with the Northern Sea Route (NSR), “with such promising projects as the Northern Latitudinal Railway, with access to Arctic ports.”
Such tasks will be implemented thanks to the knowledge, experience, and focus on results of industry workers, the president is sure. He also thanked all the railway workers for their work and dedication.
The list of major projects that the authorities are going to implement in the next decade, including with the involvement of private investors, includes, for example, such initiatives as the North-South, Dzhubga-Sochi transport corridors, the Northern Sea Route, the South-Western Chord, the Eastern Polygon for a total amount of over 5.6 trillion rubles.
It is also planned to launch two of the five parts of the high-speed rail (HSR) network – the entire Moscow – St. Petersburg HSR and sections of the future HSR-2 Moscow – Yekaterinburg. The total amount of investments in the HSR network is estimated at 10.8 trillion rubles.
The Russian president launched the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg HSR on March 14. The length of the new line will be 680 km. Trains will move along it at a speed of 200 to 400 km per hour, which will reduce the travel time between Moscow and St. Petersburg to 2 hours 15 minutes. This new railway must facilitate fret transport.
On June 6, the Russian government approved a decree on the construction of the country’s first high-speed railway Moscow-St. Petersburg.
