RUSSIA: Agreements on the organisational structure, financing and risk allocation for the Moskva – St Petersburg high speed rail project were signed on December 23.
A syndicate of lenders including Sovcombank, Sberbank and VTB has been formed to finance the project. Sberbank will organise two syndicated loans totalling 1·79tr roubles for infrastructure construction and the acquisition of the rolling stock. VTB will invest more than 400bn roubles in construction.
The borrower for the 21-year infrastructure loan is VSM Dve Stolitsy, which holds a 40-year concession for the project awarded by federal railway agency Roszheldor.
The borrower for a 25-year rolling stock loan is state transport leasing body GTLK.
The latest effort to develop a dedicated Moskva – St Petersburg high speed line to relieve the existing 1 520 mm gauge main line between the two cities was officially launched on March 14 2024. A ceremonial foundation stone was laid while President Vladimir Putin watched on by video link.
The planned 679 km line would carry up to 42 trains each way per day with a journey time of 2 h 15 min. Ridership is estimated at up to 14 million passengers/year.
The total cost of the project is now estimated at 2·35tr roubles.
