Transport in Russia
The transport network of the Russian Federation is one of the world's most extensive transport networks. The national web of roads, railways and airways stretches almost 7,700 km (4,800 mi) from Kaliningrad in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the east, and major cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg are served by extensive rapid transit systems.
Russia has adopted two national transport strategies in recent years. On 12 May 2005, the Russian Ministry of Transport adopted the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation to 2020. Three years later, on 22 November 2008, the Russian government adopted a revised strategy, extending to 2030.
The export of transport services is an important component of Russia’s GDP. The government anticipates that between 2007 and 2030, the measures included in its 2008 transport strategy will increase the export of transport services to a total value of $80 billion, a sevenfold increase on its 2008 value. Foreign cargo weight transported is expected to increase from 28 million tonnes to 100 million tonnes over the same period.
Russia has the world's second-largest railway network, second only to that of the United States, with a total track length of 87,157 kilometres (54,157 mi) as of 2011. 86,200 kilometres (53,600 mi) of this uses a broad rail gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in), while a narrow gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) is used on a 957-km (595-mile) stretch of railway on Sakhalin Island. Electrified track accounts for around half of the Russian railway network - totalling 40,300 kilometres (25,000 mi) - but carries the majority of railway traffic.
Russian Railways, the state-owned national rail carrier, is one of the world's largest transport companies, enjoying a monopoly over rail transport in Russia. Established in 1992, it employs an estimated 950,000 people, and accounted for 2.5% of the entire national GDP in 2009. In 2007 alone, Russian Railways carried a total of 1.3 billion passengers and 1.3 billion tons of freight on its common-carrier routes.
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