The rejuvenation of the BAM (Baikal- Amur Mainline) construction began again in 1974 during the Brezhnev rule of the Soviet Union, he sought this as an opportunity to build a successful infrastructure that would link some of the most remote areas of the Union. Ward argues that "the BAM was so important to the entire leadership of the Soviet Union that it timelessly poured resources" (Ward, 2009) into what would be a failed vision.

The project, however, was received very well by the stakeholders invested in its construction. The stakeholders in this instance were citizens living within the areas of the Soviet Union that the railway would service. The reason this project was so highly celebrated during the construction was the PR management and how it was portrayed to the stakeholders. Ward notes that "the propaganda system touched the lives of more soviet citizens than its actual construction" (Ward,2009), this meant the vision of the railway was marketed heavily and it was sold as a piece of infrastructure that would unite the Union. The USSR marketed this project in a way that attracted migrants and citizens to help build the railway, proving the PR management of the project team to be incredibly successful. The project itself has been argued to have had a "sense of romance to the whole project" (Rusmania.com, 2022) which would have been key in drumming up the workforce. This is a key element of successful project management as the project manager is typically responsible for devising a clear communication plan.

Relating this to a transportation project in the UK which would be HS2, I believe that similar PR management would be used to convince stakeholders (the general public, businesses, the media) of the worth of the project which is currently viewed unfavourably by many. HS2 is self-proclaimed to be "an inspirational venture to be involved with" (HS2, 2022) and by marketing the vision of the railway to the stakeholders, opinions could be changed and a more positive viewpoint of the project could be generated.

Questions:

• To what extent do you agree with this assessment of the BAM and the HS2 project?
• Do we even need PR for projects?