This article is part of a daily series of MegaProjects articles. If you want to know more about PPP projects with a considerable size visit our MegaProjects section. You can receive them by email on a daily basis.

The Moscow - Kazan high speed line project was presented to potential investors during an industry day that took place in Moscow on March 4th. The project is expected to get government approval during this month.

After appointing the Lengiprotrans Design Institute to undertake initial studies for high speed lines from Moscow to St Petersburg, Adler or Kazan, Russian Railways has selected a 770 km Moscow - Vladimir - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan route for its pilot project.

The line has been divided into four segments, each planned to be built simultaneously. Russian Railways will construct the first segment on its own, the 197 km stretch from Moscow to Vladimir. The other three segments are planned to be built by consortia of private companies under concession agreements.

A number of international companies are interested in the project. French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Italian firms have shown interest in the projects. At the moment, 10 consortia have already been formed.

Under the finalized financial scheme for the project, more than RUB300 billion (US$8.2 billion), or 30% of the total sum, will come directly from state coffers. Another 31% will come jointly from Russian Railways, the Pension Fund and the National Welfare Fund.

Private companies will have to provide 25% of the overall financing using their own funds or loans while another 14% could come as loans to private companies issued under government guarantees.

The overall price for the railroad is estimated at  1 trillion rubles ($27.5 billion).

The project will be the first real high-speed line in Russia. With trains wheezing on track at up to 400 kilometers per hour, the rail trip from Moscow to Kazan, which today can take close to 13 hours, will be reduced to 3.5 hours.