Russia Is Building a Train That Will Zip From Moscow to Beijing In Just 48 Hours

By Stefano Pozzebon

SLATE - Jan. 3 2015

Russia plans to build a new high speed railway, with trains that would speed from Moscow to Beijing in just 48 hours. At the moment, it takes about seven days to commute between the two cities and the route requires changes.  According to Romanian website Glasul, the Kremlin has awarded the project to China Railway High-speed (CRH), a subsidiary of the state-controlled China Railway (CR), which is working in a joint-venture with the local firm Uralvagonzavod. CR is famous in the train industry for operating the world's only magnetic levitation train in an urban area, the Shangai monorail.

Previously, Russia had commissioned a French firm, Alstom, for the first work on the rail line between Moscow and Kazan. Alstom is one of the leading high speed train manufacturers in the world: In 2007 they set up a new record for conventional-wheeled high speed trains, speeding up at 574 kilometers per hour (357 miles per hour). It also operates the urban tram line in Nottingham. But since France did not deliver its order of Mistral ships in late November this year, it appears the Russian government took it personally and decided to switch that branch of the construction of the high speed railway to CRH, which is now in charge of the whole line, from Moscow to Beijing.

READ MORE....