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Tariffs for long-distance passenger rail traffic will rise by 17.5 percent in 2005 (18.5 percent in 2004), while for commuter traffic –by 16 percent (17.1 percent in 2004), says the draft of a financial plan of the Russian Railways Company, which will be examined by the Russian cabinet at its meeting on Thursday, Tass learnt from a source at the government.
According to the company’s plans, tariffs for freight traffic will rise by 8.5 percent. All in all, the draft of a financial plan provides for 758.8 billion roubles in the company’s incomes and 680 billion roubles in outlays.
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me for investments in the railway industry. According to the source, the volume of investments in the industry will rise by 36 percent in 2005 as against 2004 and will top 148 billion roubles, out of which 138.5 billion roubles will be invested by the Russian Railways Company.
The bulk of all investments (more than 62 percent) will be channeled to develop and update the infrastructure of railways. For instance it is planned to boost traffic capacity of the North-South and West-East transport corridors as well as to expand exits from the Kuznetsk coal basin (Western Siberia) for coal deliveries for export to ports.
The investment programme provides, for the first time, long-term funding of construction of the Berkakit-Tommot-Yakutsk railways which will make cheaper and easier by far deliveries of goods for winter to outlying northern regions.
The development of projects for oil deliveries to China will be another priority investment in 2005. It is also planned next year to pay special attention to create express traffic between Moscow, Lyubertsi and Ramenskoye and to establish so-called automatic system of commercial metering of electricity.
MOSCOW, November 11 (Itar-Tass)
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