The cost of building a high-speed railway connecting Yekaterinburg and Moscow might rise to 3.5 trillion RUR, head of Sverdlovsk Region Railways Vladimir Suprun announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg.

‘High-Speed Railways, one of Sverdlovsk Region Railways’ daughter enterprises is currently working on this project. Under this project, the railway is supposed to be designed and built with the company’s own funds and will be operated until it pays off, with some federal budget support,’ Suprun said.

‘An ad hoc work team was set up only today, so everything is at its preliminary stage at the moment. The final decision has not been made yet, as it mainly depends on the federal constituencies which will host the railway on their territories. Besides, we have to come to an agreement as to the route. Given the load that Trans-Siberian Railway is coping with, it makes sense to put up a separate line,’ he added.

The railway official believes that, the necessary investments provided, the railway can possibly be finished by 2018.

‘According to the preliminary estimates, the cost of building this railway will total to 2.5 trillion RUR. If we want the railway to reach its full capacity and to break even, the cost will come to about 3.5 trillion RUR,’ Suprun observed.