Railways are still a route to riches in Russia, with nearly 1 billion passengers a year taking this transport. And some of Russia’s elite have used their connections with the government – and fraud – to win railways contracts worth millions of dollars.
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Workers in Kannelyarvi inspect the new high speed rail link to Finland. Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters -
One of the offices of InterProgressBank, reportedly part-owned by Andrei Krapivin. Mr Krapivin has been a director of large contractors working for Russian Railways. Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters -
A person walks at an overhead crossing close to the track used by the Allegro high-speed train route in Leningrad. Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters -
An Allegro train travels at a railway station in Helsinki. Timo Jaakonaho / Lehtikuva / Reuters -
Russian businessman German Gorbunstov, above, once co-owned with Andrei Krapivin the Capital Commercial Bank, which held accounts for railway contractors. Andrew Winning / Reuters -
A Soviet-era electric train on display at the Museum of Railway Technology in Moscow. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters -
Russia’s Vladimir Putin travels in Russia’s first high speed train Sapsan in Leningrad Region in this 2009 photo. Ria Novosti / Alexei Druzhinin / Reuters -
A Soviet Union symbol is seen between trains at the Museum of Railway Technology in Moscow. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters -
A passenger train moves along a railway along the bank of the Yenisei River near the village of Sliznevo. Ilya Naymushin / Reuters -
Vladimir Yakunin, the president of Russian Railways, is an old friend and long-time ally of Vladimir Putin. Dmitry Astakhov / Ria Novosti / Reuters -
The Soviet Union coat of arms is seen on a star of a steam locomotive at the Museum of Railway Technology in Moscow. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters
In pictures: Crony capitalism derails Russia’s railways
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