Oleg Belozorov, the Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways announced that the company is ready to expand its cooperation in railway infrastructure projects of the members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO*). The company try to develop engineering and infrastructure projects in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Russian Railways is also interested in joining the work of the Sino-Kyrgyz-Uzbek working group on the construction project for the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China line. Together with its Uzbek counterparts, the company is working on the issue of participating in the project to electrify the Bukhara-Urgench-Khiva site, in Uzbekistan.
In connection with Russia’s presidency of the SCO in 2019-2020, Belozorov proposed holding the next meeting of the heads of railway administrations in Russia.
“I am convinced that such an expanded format will lead to a fuller and more productive dialogue and will allow us to develop a strategy for our future activities for the benefit of all our countries,” he said.
A project that Russian Railways is implementing under the SCO, is the development of technical documentation for the Nagpur-Secunderabad railway line upgrade in India, to increase passenger train speeds to 200 km/h.
“RZD International has now completed the preparation of the feasibility study for this project and we are just waiting for the decision from the Indian side,” said the CEO of Russian Railways.
In January-August 2019, freight transport on the Russian rail network between Russia and the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation increased by 7% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 109.3 million tonnes.
“This dynamic indicates the existence of a stable and mutually beneficial relationship in the SCO space, both between the railway administrations and the business community. We are ready to support it and expand our cooperation with regard to the railways,” Belozorov said.
RZD is helping business by giving discounts of 50% on the transport of a number of goods exported to the SCO countries of and 55% in transit container shipments.
The implementation of infrastructure projects contributes to the development of cooperation. Significant potential for increased traffic is being opened up by the implementation of large-scale investment programmes to modernise the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Sib Main Lines, as well as the approaches to the seaports of South and North-West of Russia.
*SCO comprises eight member states: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are the four observer states; Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka are the six dialogue partners.
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