An international rail freight forum took place in Russia last week. The two day event was designed to promote the 1520 mm guage to accelerate the development of transport links between Europe, CIS countries and China. The new developments should reduce freight delivery times from the eastern to western borders of Russia to one week. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister, who opened the forum, said that financial support was vital as freight transport volumes had declined throughout 2009 and Russian Railways needed continued support to implement its investment programme.