Russian ITMO University, specialising in IT, optical design and engineering, has received a RUB 300 million grant for the design of a quantum platform for state railway carrier Russian Railways, reports Tdaily.ru. The grant for the St Petersburg university has been allocated by state investment fund RVC.

The platform from ITMO will include both hardware and software components, forming a core of quantum networks.
Russian Railways plans to deploy its 10,000 km quantum network until 2024. The planned size of the investment totals RUB 24.7 billion. Russian national operator Rostelecom deploys fibre-optic lines under the framework of the project.