Cargo traffic on the railways is expected to grow by 56 million tonnes in 16 years. Picture: TraveLiving

As much as 1.6 trillion roubles - $46.7 billion - can be channeled into the railway upgrade by 2020, said Sergey Shatirov, deputy chairman of the Russian upper house committee on economic policy.

At the first stage alone, investments will exceed 580 billion roubles ($17 billion), with 260.2 billion roubles ($7.6 billion) of federal budget funds and the rest to be invested by the RussianRailways Company (RZD).

'The large-scale railway project has already been comprehensively discussed at all levelsw', he said.

He forecast the investment would stimulate the Russian economy during the global slowdown.

Cargo traffic on the railways is expected to grow by 56 million tonnes in 16 years.