Belarusian Railways seeks an investor for implementing a major project for electrifying two railway sections: Gomel-Zhlobin-Osipovichi and Zhlobin-Kalinkovichi. The information was released by Vasily Khvalko, Head of the Technical Policy and Investment Service of Belarusian Railways, at a roundtable session at the Belarusian Investment and Economic Forum on 13 November.

The project costs around $142.6 million and is supposed to increase the effectiveness of railway exploitation via reducing operation expenses, environmental impact and diesel fuel consumption, said Vasily Khvalko.

With proprietary funds covering 27.9% of the expenses, Belarusian Railways seeks to borrow around 72%, specified Vasily Khvalko.

Electrical haulage costs 30% less on the average than the use of diesel fuel trains and will considerably reduce transportation costs of Belarusian Railways. In the future the national railway operator will have to consider renewing the rolling stock with electric locomotives. The latter are made in Ukraine, China, and Russia, however, the company is evaluating the best scenario.

In the future Belarusian Railways may introduce electrical haulage between Molodechno and the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. In turn, the Lithuanian railway service will continue electrifying the railways up to Vilnius.

Belarusian Railways accounts for around 75% of cargo transportation and over 50% of passenger transportation in the country. At present Belarus has railway communication with Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Varna, Bucharest, and Vienna as well as the capitals and administration centers of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Kazakhstan.

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