Kadyrov asks Putin to build high-speed train link to Chechen capital
The head of the Chechen Republic has requested that President Vladimir Putin amend the Russian transport strategy with a plan to build a high-speed railway link between the city of Krasnodar and the Chechen capital, Grozny.
Kommersant reported that in a June 15 letter, Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov wrote that he had learned about the plans of the Russian Railways state corporation to build a high-speed railway called ‘Center-South,’ connecting Moscow and the Black Sea resort town of Adler. Another new railway in the plan will connect the southern city of Stavropol with the Minvody resort in the Caucasus region.
The link will be not an upgrade of the existing network, but a completely new railway for the Lastochka and Sapsan high speed trains, which can reach speeds of up to 160 and 300kph respectively.
Kadyrov also proposed some corrections to the plan and asked Putin to begin building the Center-South railway with the Rostov-on-Don-Krasnodar link and continue from Krasnodar to Grozny. On the way, the railways could pass such major cities as Nalchik and Vladikavkas, and the popular resort destination Minvody, the head of the Chechen Republic wrote.
According to Kommersant, President Putin has already charged Russian Economy Minister Maksim Oreshkin with examining the proposal and reporting whether it is possible to implement it or not. The press service of the economy ministry confirmed this, but said that work on the order is not finished and nothing concrete can be reported yet.
Kommersant quoted unnamed experts as saying the cost of the project could reach one trillion rubles, and wrote that potential sources for funding were not specified in Kadyrov’s letter.
Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed on Tuesday that the request from Kadyrov had been made, but he did not provide any details concerning construction plans or sources for funding the project. “There are a lot of such promising and visionary projects currently on the table. Only a detailed study in profile ministries will show us which of them will be feasible and fit for realization,” Peskov said.
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