High-speed freight trains might start running in Russia after a second and third high-speed rail (HSR) line go into operation, the vice president of Sinara Group, Alexander Misharin said at the INNOPROM exhibition in Yekaterinburg.
"This is the next phase [of the development of HSR in Russia], after the launch of a second, third line. But I'm confident that such trains will run. This is a very interesting solution. [...] When HSR develops and more than 2,000 km are built, it turns into [a] freight and passenger [service]," Misharin said.
He said front end engineering design for high-speed freight trains already exists. Sinara has made considerable progress, "including with our Chinese colleagues," who "have already made such a train based on our ideas," and Russia will have one too, Misharin said.
Sinara is already developing a passenger train for HSR lines in cooperation with Transmashholding (TMH).
Russian Railways (RZD) head Oleg Belozerov said earlier that the construction of HSR lines will make it possible to accelerate freight deliveries and ship an additional 30 million tonnes of freight from 18 regions to the Northwest.
The first HSR line, between Moscow and St. Petersburg, is expected to open by 2028. It will cut the travel time between the two cities by almost half, to 2 hours and 15 minutes from the current 4 hours.
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