Mr Denis Muratov, CEO of RZD subsidiary High Speed Rail Lines (HSRL), told IRJ at the 1520 Business Forum in Sochi that the government is not willing to support the plan at this stage.

He said that feasibility studies have been completed for the line and that RZD would have been ready to issue a tender on September 1. However, the government's decision has derailed these plans.

Muratov says that HSRL is now solely focusing on the Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod - Yekaterinburg high-speed rail project.