The Institute for the Economy and Transport Development, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, has carried out a preliminary assessment of the project.
According to experts, journey time can be reduced by increasing speeds en route by some 20% and improving customs and border procedures, thus cutting the time spent at the Russian and Latvian borders.
Travel time could be cut by a total of some 3 hours 50 minutes by reducing the time at borders by 1 hour 40 minutes, while higher speeds en route would save 2 hours 10 minutes.
Current journey time for passenger trains averages 16 hours, but implementing the measures outlined above would improve services by making the journey a comfortable overnight trip lasting 10-12 hours.
The railway line between Moscow and Riga covers 922km, of which 638km are on Russian territory, running from Moscow’s Riga Station to Posin.
In 2010, passenger traffic between the two capitals increased by 15% compared to 2009.

***
On 1 March 2011, a meeting between the co-chairs of the Transport Working Group of the Russian-Latvian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical, Humanitarian and Cultural Cooperation discussed faster rail links between Moscow and Riga. At the meeting, the Latvian delegation reported on its approach to the European Commission regarding financing from the European Union. It is expected that agreement on the possibility of such funding will be reached by the end of 2012.

***
During the V Meeting of the Russian-Latvian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical, Humanitarian and Cultural Cooperation in the Latvian town of Liepaja on 9-10 June 2011, the project for faster rail links between Moscow and Riga and the need to continue to working on studies with a view to possible options for the project were discussed.

City.Mobi

Also in Russia today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Moscow.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Moscow.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.