The idea of building a high-speed railway line between St Petersburg and Minsk and further into Europe is under consideration within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA learned from State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Grigory Rapota after he met with Governor of Russia's Rostov Oblast Vasily Golubev, Executive Secretary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Sergei Strelchenko, and heads of Belarusian mass media in Rostov-on-Don on 25 September.
The construction of high-speed roads is of current interest because further effective development is impossible without them. “It is also completely true for Russian-Belarusian relations because transport communications do not live up to the requirements of scientific and technological advance and overall economic interaction of the two countries,” Grigory Rapota said.
In his words, one of the ideas discussed with various Belarusian, Russian, and German circles envisages the organization of high-speed railway service between Minsk and St Petersburg and between Minsk and Moscow. “We've suggested some business model for creating such a railway line between St Petersburg and Minsk, with its further extension to the west as an option,” the official said. “It is only an idea for now. No decisions have been made. But the presidents of the two countries have given instructions and the heads of the two parliaments have given instructions to consider such a possibility. So we are working on it now. I don't want to go into details, it is a matter for a separate discussion. The only thing I can say is when we approach various people (we've consulted with a large number of people, including the heads of government of Belarus and Russia and railway industry specialists) to talk about the idea, none of those we've consulted with has expressed a negative attitude towards it. This is why we will continue consultations and will come up with some key decisions.”
The Belarusian side of the meeting was represented by BelTA Director General Irina Akulovich, Director and Editor-in-Chief of the publishing house Belarus Segodnya Dmitry Zhuk, Director and Editor-in-Chief of the publishing house Zvyazda Pavel Sukhorukov, and Director of the National Press Center of Belarus Sergei Protas.The source: https://eng.belta.by/society/view/high-speed-railway-service-between-st-petersburg-minsk-under-consideration-124439-2019/
Written by belta.by
