Within the framework of the II-nd International Cooperation Forum “One Belt - One Road”, which was held from 25 till 27 of April 2019 in Beijing (China), the Belarusian Railway and the Export-Import bank of China signed a loan agreement on 25 April. The funds will be allocated to finance the third stage of the electrification project of the railway line sections Homiel - Zhlobin - Asipovicy and Zhlobin - Kalinkavichy. This document was signed by Head of Byelorussian Railway Vladimir Moro­zov and Deputy Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of China Xi Ping.

On 3 April 2019, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev when visiting the Baku railway station inspected a modern passenger train, produced by the Swiss company ‘Stadler Rail Group’ on the request of Azerbaijani Railways, which will be in operation on the new Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line. Thanks to this railway route, which crosses Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, passengers will be able to move freely between the three countries. The launch of the passenger service on this route is planned by the end of 2019.

From 8 till 12 April 2019 the capital of the Republic of Korea, the city of Seoul, hosted meeting XXXIV of the Conference of General Directors (Authorised Representatives) of OSJD Railways, which was attended by general directors and authorised representatives from the following OSJD railways:

On 15 February 2019, the working meeting of the delegations of Baku International Sea Trade Port (BMMTP) and Azerbaijani Railways CJSC (ADY), on the one hand, and Euroterminal Sławków company, headed by Chairman of the Board Jakub Styczeń, on the other hand, took place in Sławków (Poland).

Head of RZD OJSC and Chinese Ambassador to Russia discussed the creation of a high-speed railway line

On 12 March 2019, Oleg Belozyerov, General Director and Chairman of the Board of the Russian Railways OJSC, has discussed in Moscow the construction of a high-speed railway line and the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the railway sector with HE Li Hui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation.

Background

The plan to establish the international corridor was signed by Iran, India and Russia in 2000 to boost economic and trade ties and reduce the distance for cargo transportation between India and Europe via Iran. The international corridor would connect the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf via Iran to the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Russia and further to the countries of Europe. The corridor’s operation would cut the costs by 30 percent, while the duration of transportation would be 40 percent shorter.

Modernization of a key section of the transit corridor between Prague and Plzen is complete

With the complete commissioning of the Ejpovice tunnel, the modernisation of the currently 14-kilometre long section of the transit railway line between the stations of Rokycany and Plzen has been completed. The concluding ceremony to opened the operation of the tunnel, which took place on 9 December 2018, was attended by Dan Tok, Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic, and Marc Lemaitre, Director-General, Directorate- General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission (REGIO).

Record transportation volumes

The Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line (Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa - PKP LHS Ltd.) has recorded a 6.5% increase in transportation records as compared to 2017. In 2018, PKP LHS transported a total of 10 million 716 thousand tons of goods, gaining the highest score in its history. The year of 2018 was also a record-breaking for the company in terms of completed investments.

The uninterrupted movement of trains, the increase in throughput in the main East - West transport corridor, the ability to pass a larger number of freight trains - all this will be possible as a result of investment in increasing the capacity of the border crossing point in the Terespol - Brest section. To fulfill these tasks, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. (PKP Polish Lines) has announced a tender for the design of tracks at Terespol station.

On 29 December 2018, the first new fast-speed passenger train was commissioned the Azerbaijani Railways CJSC from the Baku Railway Station along the route Baku - Ganja - Baku.

The first passengers of the new train were deputies of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan and representatives of media. The guests were accompanied by Javid Gurbanov, Chairman of Azerbaijani Railways CJSC.