Russian Railways (RZD) has said it plans to invest 1.4 trillion rubles (€22.2 billion) in its national rail network over the next three years.
More than half of that will be implemented as a result of orders from the President and the Government of the Russian Federation, including the development of the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM) and Trans-Siberian Express, upgrades to the Mezhdurechensk – Taishet line and the construction of a new line between Prokhorovka – Zhuravka – Chertkovo – Bataisk.
RZD has said the level of investment will rise year on year from 414.1 billion rubles in 2015, to 486.6 billion in 2016 rubles and then 532 8 billion rubles in 2017.
Following discussions with the Government of the Russian Federation, RZD said the investment plan was based on a new forecast of the socio-economic development of the country in which freight rates stand at 10 per cent and federal subsidies total 30 billion rubles.
Throughout the three-year planning period, 7,500 kilometres of track will be reconstructed and 1,500 new locomotives procured.
The backdrop of this announcement has been several years of cutbacks. Savings of 100 billion rubles in 2013 were followed by a “forced administrative cost reduction” of 84.9 billion rubles in 2014.
