ABSTRACT
Because of Russia’s immense size, rail and air are the most important modes of transport. Travel by rail is still reliable and cheap, as it was in Soviet times. Although more investment is needed for construction and track maintenance, especially in the remote regions where climatic conditions are very difficult, there have been considerable recent improvements. Compared with Soviet times domestic air travel is expensive and the number of internal flights has been reduced. Although dozens of private airlines were set up after the break-up of the Soviet state airline, Aeroflot, they do not offer the same comprehensive service to provincial towns. Road transport is slow as there is no motorway system and roads are not well-maintained outside major cities.
