China's first overseas railway deal is expected to be sealed by the end of May. China Railway Group said Wednesday that a consortium between its engineering group and a Russian company has won a contract to design a high-speed railway project connecting Moscow and Kazan.
The 770-kilometre-long project is worth some US$21 billion, and will be partially financed by Chinese funding. The railway will be designed for bullet trains to run up to 400 kilometres per hour, bringing travel time between Moscow to Kazan down to 3 and half hours from 14 hours.
The project, by the time of its completion before the 2018 World Cup, will connect tourism hotspots in Russia and form a tourism belt.
It is a part of Russia's 2030 transportation strategic plan, and will be extended to Yekaterinburg, and later to China's Urumqi, linking major Chinese railway lines to mega cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.