Russian high-speed takes two steps back, one step forward

摘要

What a difference two years makes. In October 2011 Mr Denis Muratov, CEO of Russian Railways' (RZD) High Speed Rail Lines subsidiary, declared confidently to a room of British journalists in London that Russia would build a high-speed railway between Moscow and St Petersburg in time for the soccer World Cup which Russia is hosting in 2018. He said that the business case was sound, the numbers added up and that four international consortia were preparing to bid for the project.