High-Speed Railroad To Russia Planned

A Swedish-Swiss company is planning to construct a high-speed passenger railroad from Berlin to Moscow.

Eberhard von Koerber, an official of Asea Brown Boveri, told a news conference Thursday that the project has the support of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the European Union and the World Bank.

Russia has an extensive rail network, but most trains are slow and the equipment is antiquated. Many people rely on trains because the country’s highway system is even more dilapidated and dangerous.

According to von Koerber, trains would run at 100 mph, at least halving the 30 hours it now takes to make the 1,160-mile trip.