Peregrine Falcons in European countries reach speeds of up to 400 km/h, covering long distances in record time. Why do they move twice as slowly in Russia? It's all about the quality of the rail lines, which are not strong enough for high-speed trains. Rails for trains moving at speeds up to 200 km/h appeared in the USSR in 1960-70s, and by 1990, the development of a railway track that could withstand speeds up to 350 km/h was already underway. It was planned to create a road of this quality between Moscow and St. Petersburg, a decree on this was signed in 1991. In 1995, the government approved the construction project, but work did not begin – in 1998, Boris Yeltsin canceled his decree. Before launching the German Sapsan between the capitals in 2003, the existing highway built in the middle of the 19th century was reconstructed. It is simply impossible to turn the current highway into a modern route, so trains are forbidden to reach speeds of more than 200 km/h. In 2006, the question arose again of building a high-speed road between St. Petersburg and Moscow. In 2011, a new project appeared, but it was also postponed, deciding to build a road in another section: between Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, in the future it is planned to be extended to Yekaterinburg. Just Numbers
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What about the costs?
The material side of the issue was also carefully analyzed. The construction of the section between St. Petersburg and Moscow will cost 1.5 trillion RUB, but the benefits from its operation, according to preliminary calculations, should be twice as large. An alternative option was again proposed: not to build a new route, but to improve the old one in order to increase the maximum possible speed of trains to 280 km/h. Methods of construction and reconstruction are also actively discussed, since they have a number of features for high-speed routes. An assessment of the behavior of the soil under high dynamic loads is required and the construction of the route taking into account these data is required. The initial characteristics of the existing road were designed for completely different loads, the reconstruction that has already been carried out has brought it closer to the limit of possibilities, so it will be more and more difficult to improve the existing canvas further. And, according to experts, more expensive than building a new one.