On 25 August 2023, Russian Railways and Belarusian Railways signed an agreement to develop infrastructure to ports in North-West. Accoring to the prss release of Russian Railways, the agreement covers cooperation to modernize and develop sections of the public railway transport infrastructure for the development of promising volumes of cargo transported along the IX Pan-European Transport Corridor in the direction of the ports in the Russian Federation’s North-West region.
The document was signed at the XI International Railway Salon 1520 Space “PRO//Motion. Expo” by Sergei Pavlov, First Deputy Managing Director of Russian Railways, and Sergei Novodvorsky, the Chief Engineer of Belarusian Railways.
The agreement provides for a plan of measures for the development of infrastructure until 2026. The two parties will implement the projects on their own territory.
In particular, the plan provides for the development of the Novosokolniki – Dno – Batetskaya – Luga-I direction with the construction of five sidings. On the Batetskaya – Luga-I section, it is planned to carry out the technical re-equipping of the communication networks, while the Luga-I – Pskov stretch will see the construction of two sidings. In the future, it is also planned to develop railway approaches to the Bronka multifunctional reloading port.
For its part, Belarus plans to strengthen its infrastructure and overhaul artificial structures along the direction from Zhlobin station to the border with the Russian Federation. In addition, the parties will work jointly on the electrification of the line from Zhlobin to Luga-I station.