Russian Railways to launch "Sapsan" between Russia and Ukraine
03.09.2010 (11:55)
The high-speed train "Sapsan" (Rus. Peregrine Falcon) may in the near future connect Moscow and Kiev, said the Ambassador of Ukraine to Russia Vladimir Yelchenko in a meeting with the Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko.However, the timing and details of the project have not yet been reported.
Yelchenko told Matvienko that he had met with the President of OAO RZhD (Russian Railways), Vladimir Yakunin, and discussed with him the matters of railway communication between Russia and Ukraine.
"Last week I met with Yakunin. He said they want to launch Sapsan to Kiev", said Elchenko.
At present, the Sapsan runs only on route Saint-Petersburg – Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod.
It is worth noting that in the early summer the head of RZhD Vladimir Yakunin and the Transport Minister of Ukraine Konstantin Efimenko had signed an agreement on the development of high-speed rail traffic between Russia and Ukraine. The routes Moscow - Kiev, Moscow - Adler (via Kharkov) and Moscow – Simferopol were under discussion as well as the alterations in the border and customs control systems.
Currently, the infrastructure and rolling stock of the railways, both in our country and in Ukraine, do not allow to develop high speed in principle. Therefore, the present maximum permissible speed is 140 kilometers per hour. And in order to reduce the travel time, 200-220 kilometers per hour is required.
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