Russia turns to China for rail development

A recently-signed contract by China's state-controlled railway, to design a high-speed rail line for Russia, is an example of new co-operation between the two superpowers, since Moscow fell out with the West
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RUSSIA Moscow

Nizhny Novgorod

Kazan

KAZAKHSTAN

Karaganda Astana Yekaterinburg Chelyabinsk Petropavl

CHINA Beijing

Urumqi Dostyk

800km 500 miles

Moscow-Kazan link seen as first stage of potential high-speed corridor running on to Beijing
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MOSCOW-KAZAN

China’s state-controlled China Railway Group awarded $390 million contract to design high-speed rail link

Length: 770km

Completion: 2018

Journey: 400km/h link to slash time from 14 hours to three and a half

Separate tender will be held for actual construction of $19.5 billion link, with China’s rail developers seen as having edge over European competitors

Siemens high-speed trains started regular service Moscow-Saint Petersburg in 2009
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Sources: Russian Railways, FT

Picture: Associated Press

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