OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2010. The European and Asian Rail Summit (EARS) was held as part of the InnoTrans 2010 international exhibition of transport technology, reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin delivered a speech at a podium discussion on "Railway Globalization: New Chances for a Time-Tested Means of Transport" and a report on the theme: "From the Atlantic to the Pacific: Are Railways a Global Service Provider?"

The Russian Railways president noted that with ongoing globalization, the world economy can only develop successfully with the help of uninterrupted, reliable international transport communications, of which railways are an essential part.

"Governments are facing the particularly important task of integrating national transport infrastructures into a unified transnational network, providing access to global transport corridors. And here, Russia has significant potential. The Russian Federation’s geographic location gives it an important role in the global economic system, as a transport bridge between Europe and Asia on the East-West and North-South routes", Vladimir Yakunin said.

"We consider the perspectives for developing the East-West corridor to depend primarily on improving technology for. Transporting large-tonnage containers on fast trains. Due to growing demand and client needs, the list of their routes is continually expanding: container trains deliver cargo from Russian ports on the Pacific Ocean to the country’s western borders. This technology enables not only substantial time-saving in freight delivery, but also allows goods to be delivered regularly and on a precise schedule. Along with steps taken to increase freight volumes from East to West, one of the priorities of Russian Railways is to form an integrated railway infrastructure on the North-South international transport corridor. To fulfill its potential, a direct rail link needs to be established linking Russia to Iran and countries of the Persian Gulf", the Russian railways president said.

Vladimir Yakunin also outlined a range of measures being taken by Russian Railways to form a unified transport space. He described the company’s railway cooperation with other countries, new transport products to attract more customers to the Asia-Europe rail route, and also the creation of a modern terminal-logistics infrastructure, the development of logistics services, and cooperation with ports and sea transport.

"By systemically resolving issues relating to the balanced development of infrastructure, removing organizational and legal barriers, and developing mutually beneficial partnerships, rail transport will soon be able to become a global provider of competitive transport services on the Eurasian continent", Vladimir Yakunin said.