Transport unmanned corridor may be started in Russia along the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway (М11 "Neva") in 2021. The agreement on it will be signed by the representatives of "Kamaz", "National Telematic Systems" (NTS) and X5 Retail. (NTS), X5 Retail Group and the First Forwarding Company, Vedomosti reported, citing a source close to the Russian Ministry of Transport (Mintrans).

"We are joining forces under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport. The corridor from Moscow to St. Petersburg is needed for the test operation of unmanned trucks - they will transport goods between logistics terminals located near the highway," NTS CEO and co-owner Alexei Nashchekin told the publication.

According to him, only electric cars will be tested; in the future they will be equipped with hydrogen fuel cells to increase the distance travelled with one fill-up, which will reduce the cost of transportation by up to two times.

According to Nashchekin's estimates, the trial running of the corridor is expected in 2024, but the company cannot rule out the possibility of starting up the "corridor" this year. The NTS estimates that the equipment of the highway with the infrastructure for drones will cost about 4 billion rubles. It is possible to organize the traffic by means of public-private partnership and have it built by the Ministry of Transport for the budget money "with the further provision of access on an equal footing for everyone who wants it".

According to the NTS CEO, today Kamaz is the best company in Russia in terms of testing of unmanned heavy-duty trucks. As noted by a source in the industry, this agreement will also be signed by "Business Line", the association "Digital Transport and Logistics", Globaltruck, "Sberavtotech" and the Ministry of Transport itself.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is taking place from June 2 to 5. This year's theme is "Together Again. The Economy of New Reality". The event is organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

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Karina Kamalova