‘Neither the Russian budget nor that of the Russian Railways can possibly cover the expenses related to a high-speed Yekaterinburg-Moscow train in the next five years or so,’ Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Railways for Passenger Travel Sergey Nekh announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg.

‘The existing railways can’t handle the pressure of a train traveling at 160 to 260 kilometers per hour, so we’ll need a new railway for it. This railway will have its specifications and complications, especially given the fact that the Perm direction is already overloaded with freight carriages,’ Nekh explained.

According to the railway company executive, the project, proposed by Governor Alexander Misharin, will be considered no earlier than the year 2020. The construction of the railway will take another few years into the bargain.

‘In case the infrastructure on the way to Nizhniy Novgorod gets better and we get the carriages designed, built, and bought, things will get easier. Nevertheless, it is still unrealistic to say the task could then be completed within the next five years,’ Nekh said.