Chinese company becomes co-contractor of Russia's high-speed rail project

MOSCOW - The Russian Railways (RZD) chose a Chinese company as a co-contractor in the construction of 770-km high-speed railroad, the company said Thursday.

"The RZD signs an agreement with a consortium of two Russian companies and China Railway ErYuan Engineering Group Company Limited (CREEC) worth 20 billion roubles (over $380 million)," the company said in an online official statement.

The three companies would jointly implement the high-speed track project which connects Moscow with Kazan, capital of Tatarstan Republic.

The RZD stressed that the Russian-Chinese consortium is "the most promising professional community" that combines long-time, practical and successful experiences of the implementation of high-speed rail construction projects.

It is expected that the works under the contract will be completed by December 2016, while the total project investment is estimated at over 1 trillion rubles (over $19 billion).

The Moscow-Kazan railway will be the first in Russia specifically designed and built for rapid transit.

Until now, the high-speed trains in Russia running between Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, still use regular tracks.