Russia Details High-Speed Rail Pilot as Moscow’s T1 Tram Outperforms Forecasts

Overview

• Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin said the Moscow–Valday trip will take about one hour and reiterated Moscow–Veliky Novgorod at roughly 1 hour 40 minutes, with Moscow–St. Petersburg projected in the 2 to 2.5 hour range.
• The first high‑speed line will have 14 passenger stops, including Moscow’s Leningradsky Vokzal, Valday, Veliky Novgorod and St. Petersburg‑Glavny.
• Construction is active on stages six and seven in Tver and Moscow regions, with a supporting industrial base underway that includes robotic slab plants, multiple pile and bridge facilities, and plans for 239 bridges and viaducts spanning about 180 km.
• Novgorod region plans a multimodal hub linking the future Podberezye high‑speed station with Krechevitsy aerodrome, including a synchronized express bus once the airport opens.
• Moscow reports about 77,000 weekday trips on the new T1 tram diameter, 1.5 times the forecast, with 15 autonomous trams slated for the Krasnopresnenskaya network in 2026 and a second 33‑km tram diameter planned.