Assessment of the Impact of High-Speed Rail Projects on Transport and Urban Development Based on the Example of Nizhny Novgorod

Chinese, Japanese and European experience shows that transformation of an ordinary railway station into a high-speed railway station contributes to a rapid change of the surrounding areas into a multifunctional center of urban and cultural life, which, in addition to business centers, includes shopping, residential, recreational and cultural components. In addition, new areas require special standards of transport services and involve integration of high-speed railway with urban public transport systems. Assessment of the impact of high-speed rail project on transport and urban development in Nizhny Novgorod in the case of construction HSR-2 station «Nizhny Novgorod – Strigino» is associated with the need to organize transport services for the new passenger-generating area and urban development of surrounding areas to ensure growth of HSR-2 project’s passenger traffic. The paper identifies promising changes in the transport and urban development sectors of Nizhny Novgorod, which will have a complex impact on urban development. Maximizing their effects will be associated with ensuring controlled development, as it will be defined in the strategic documents. Urban population, Nizhny Novgorod Region’s and Russian Federation’s state authorities, JSC "Russian Railways", banks, project companies and private investors will act as beneficiaries of the development of Nizhny Novgorod’s transport infrastructure and urban development associated with the HSR-2 project construction. Materials of the paper can serve as an additional justification for the need to implement high-speed rail projects in the Russian Federation.