Sunday, 1 January 2012
The second deepest metro station in the world opens in St. Petersburg
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Police start high-tech parking patrols
Starting from today, police are prowling the city’s streets looking for parking violators with high-tech monitoring equipment.
“The center of traffic management now has 10 Ford Focus cars equipped with mobile parking violation detectors cruising the city’s streets,” Interfax quoted a transport department spokesperson as saying on Friday.
The new initiative is part of a recently announced overhaul of the capital’s traffic management systems, which includes new multifunctional traffic cameras that by year’s end will number some 150 and have snared 20,000 infractions already.
Police are hoping that he new system will provide a similar level of support to their efforts to thwart parking violators. “The new method of recording violation has been called in to help in the battle against traffic jams,” the editor of Avtoizvestia, Dmitry Semenov said.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Moscow on track for better commuter trains
Commuting in Moscow Region is about to get easier and more comfortable following a deal to build a new fleet of double-decker trains.
Russian Railways announced the contract on Friday and the first trains will be built in 2014 after senior deputy president Valentin Gapanovich signed off on the technical requirements of the new rolling stock.
The deal is set to consign the aged and uncomfortable elekhtrichkas to the scrap heap, replacing them with modern, faster trains.
And instead of being herded cattle-style into over-crowded carriages, passengers should find higher capacity and three seating classes offer more comfortable travel.
The new commuter train is a joint-venture project between Russian leading train building company Transmashholding and French Alstom (Alstom owns 25 per cent of Transmashholding).
One of the key features of the new trains is that they won’t require extra work to adapt the existing rail infrastructure.
Artyom Ledenev, spokesman for Transmashholding, said that the design ensured there was no need to extend station platforms or rebuild bridges over the lines.
He added that passenger flow could increase by 80 per cent with the new rolling stock, which will be developed specially for Russian Railways.
The new trains, similar to those operated in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and other European countries, will have up to 12 coaches and will be driven by a locomotive at each end.
The top speed of 160 km per hour is 30 per cent faster than the current rolling stock can manage, and Transmashholding promises greater comfort for commuters.
First class cars will have mix pairs of seats with single “airline-style” places, and passengers will have individual screens in front of them. Standard class will offer pairs of seats while Economy will resemble a more comfortable version of the existing elektrichka lay-out, according to a press release.
Other features of the commuter trains will include double VIP-seating compartments with a “grand luxe” class compartment for passengers in wheelchairs and accompanying persons, a snack-bar, and baggage storage for bulky luggage.
All carriages will have air-conditioning, have bio-toilets and CCTV.
The two locomotives will be produced at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant, while passenger carriages have been commissioned from a factory in Tver.
“We will have the heart of the trains - locomotives built here in Novocherkassk,” Alexei Parkhomenko, a spokesman for Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant, said on the phone.
“These locomotives will be able to work in minus 40 degrees Celsius and never freeze like normal elektrichkas,” a source close to the joint-venture project between Transmashholding and Alstom informed.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Russian Railways to simplify passport control procedures on Kyiv-Moscow train
"All border crossing and customs procedures in train No. 1 on the Moscow-Kyiv route will start in wagons and the platform of Kyivsky station in Moscow one hour before departure. All of the procedures in train No. 2 on the Kyiv-Moscow route will be performed en route from the Lesnoy Gorodok station starting from 0619 to the Moscow station," according to a press release of Ukrzaliznytsia.
According to the report, corresponding changes have been included in the train traffic schedule.
As reported, Ukrzaliznytsia declared its readiness by the end of 2011 to cancel the nighttime customs and border controls in trains running between Kyiv and Moscow.
In particular, it is planned to carry out passport and customs controls at Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station when boarding the train instead of at border stations, where the procedures are usually carried out at night, which is inconvenient for passengers.
Ukrzaliznytsia to electrify 95 km of Poltava-Kremenchuk-Burty line in 2011
In addition, it is planned to electrify 176 kilometers of track on the Poltava-Krasnohrad-Lozova line.
"In the first half of 2011 some 3,726 railway poles, 1,304 bases, 442 anchors, 829 consoles and 760 brackets were installed, and a high-voltage line of 10 kV with a length of 22 kilometers was constructed on the Poltava-Kremenchuk route to electrify this section of track," the statement reads.
In general, the operational length of electrified railway lines amounts to 45% of their total operational length. The share of electric traction in the operational work of the railroads exceeds 89.7%
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Russia's roads to nowhere
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Americans may assemble Russian Ruslan cargo planes
The final assembly of Russian An-124 Ruslan for the American market may take place in America on Boeing factories, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) President Alexey Fedorov announced yesterday at the ILA air show in Berlin.
“For the American market the assembly will take place in the US territory, possibly in Long Beach, because we know the rules that 50 per cent of the works have to take place in the USA.” Itar Tass quoted him as saying. He said that Boeing is discussing the proposition with the US government. The Russian side has not been given an answer yet.
Fedorov earlier said that resuming production of Ruslan may cost up to $1 billion and the US specialists may be invited to ease the financial pressure on all the participants, reported Rosbalt news agency. “Besides, the participation of a third partner will open up new markets for the project,” he said.
Russian Boeing did not deny or confirm the information. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the other hand, confirmed the news in his interview with Kommersant.
An-124 is the biggest transport aircraft in the world. It was developed in the USSR in the end of 1970s and made its maiden flight in 1981. After the production stopped in 1995, Russian and Ukrainian governments repeatedly tried to restore it, but it has not happened yet.
After modernisation the plane’s carrying capacity will be increased from 120 to 150 tonnes. UAC plans to start production at Ulyanovsk Aviastar-SP factory not earlier than 2015.
Russian President Medvedev bid the Defence Ministry to include a purchase of 20 An-124s in the armament programme by 2020. The decision to order An-124 for the Defence Ministry was seen as a main condition for other potential buyers of civilian aviation. UAC conditions state that at least 80 machines need to be produced, but civilian carriers are ready to buy no more than 60.
Dmitry Medvedev’s idea to offer the USA a part in the An-124 project was a surprise for Russian market participants and caused “acute aversion” for the Ukrainian partners that hold the construction documents, a source in the aviation industry told Kommersant.
Experts see the deal as economically impractical. “Even if produced in Russia, UAC announced that the catalogue price for the plane will be $150-200 million, and production in the USA is going to be objectively more expensive,” a source told the daily. The plane cannot be used in regular flights and the charter operation will be unprofitable.
The project will need orders from the Pentagon, and it is a political issue, Alexei Sinitsky, chief of Aviatransportnoe Obozreniye SAID.
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Storm over Leningradka
Moscow authorities found a solution to the city’s traffic problem, labelled the worst in Europe.
The only problem was they made it worse.
When construction began on a dilapidated bridge 24 kilometers outside of Moscow on Leningradskoye Shosse, paralysing Moscow’s only thoroughfare to Sheremetyevo Airport, it caused thousands to miss their flights – and forced Transport Minister Igor Levitin to take the train.
As a result, Sheremetyevo’s general director, Mikhail Vasilyev, who fumed about hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses in a June 30 blog post, accused Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov of a conspiracy to steal clients awayto the new terminal at Vnukovo Airport, in which the city government has a stake.
It also caused Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to notice the problem the next day and order federal officials to get to work. With a wave of the wand – and a remark by Russia’s most influential politician – two lanes were opened on Moscow’s infamous Leningradka.
Two agencies – the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office – began checking why City Hall picked the height of the summer holiday season to begin repairs that had been slated for spring.
“This situation indicates the absolute absence of an elementary management culture,” Mikhail Blinkin, head of research at the Moscow Research Institute of Transport and Road Systems, told The Moscow News. “And what is even more dangerous for the average person – it demonstrates an absence of road planning.”
The jams reportedly caused Aeroflot to lose some $800,000 to ticket refunds, RIA Novosti reported. And, as Sheremetyevo’s Vasilyev wrote in his blog, the airport wasn’t even warned about the pending construction work.
“Technically, there was a need to organise a bypass exit,” Blinkin said. “However, nothing was done, and it’s the mayor’s direct responsibility.”
Meanwhile, Putin’s comments on Thursday eased traffic congestion for only a day. Though four out of six lanes were open instead of two the day before, by late Friday evening traffic jams were as bad as ever, and reached as far out into the Moscow region as Dmitrov, some 65 kilometres away, where people had to take detours to reach their dachas for the weekend.
It also affected other routes north and northwest of the city.
“Yesterday I gave a ride from Sokol to Zelenograd. This trip took me more than three hours,” said Oleg, a bored-looking taxi driver waiting for passengers on Leningradsky Prospekt on Friday.
“Many people heard about the Leningradka gridlock and tried to use alternative ways to get to Zelenograd, such as the Pyatnitskoye highway. But since everybody was trying to get there through the same bypasses, the alternative routes were also heavily jammed.”
Viktor, another cabby in the area, said he had given up on trying to take people to Sheremetyevo because it took him at least four hours to get there.
Analysts said that Luzhkov’s uncertain future as mayor may have played a role in fuelling the traffic scandal. The long-serving mayor is said to be on his way out as soon as the Kremlin decides on his replacement.
But experts said that transportation – not politics – was at the heart of the problem.
“The fact that Luzhkov’s fate is still unclear causes political players to act more brashly,” Tatyana Stanovaya, an expert with the Center for Political Technologies, told The Moscow News. “But general discontent with the situation on the roads is growing across the country – traffic jams, accidents, driving habits, violations by people with migalki – all this accumulates and spills over into protests, forcing federal and city authorities to react more strongly to the problem.”
According to Dmitry Badovsky, an expert at Moscow State University’s Institute for the Research of Social Systems, the latest scandal has put transport high on the agenda both federal and city authorities.
“Transportation has been at the heart of a series of conflicts between the city and federal authorities,” Badovsky said, adding that they will now be forced to solve it together.
Blinkin, the roads expert, said this should have been done years ago. “If there was any proper planning there, the Transport Ministry, Luzhkov and [the Moscow region’s governor, Boris Gromov would have come together to discuss this issue. But they did not.”
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Siberian plane crash death toll mounting
The 12th victim of the Katekavia AN-24 plane crash in Siberia has died in hospital, a spokesman for the Krasnoyarsk emergencies ministry said on Tuesday
4 out of 15 people originally survived the crash on Monday night; Captain Nikolai Kozlov, Co-pilot Igor Kabanov and Flight Engineer Yevgeny Pertunin, and passenger Sergey Isakov . The aircraft was carrying 15 people when it crashed into the runway from 700 metres.
The Russian Air Transport Agency said the plane landed in thick fog. "Before landing, the plane veered to the right of its landing course and collided with the ground in front of the runway," the agency said.
A spokesman for Igarka airport said the crash had not obstructed work at the airport and other planes were still taking off and landing according to schedule.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Sheremetyevo shuttle to go
Moscow’s State airport announced plans on Friday to scrap the shuttle service it introduced after the Leningradskoe Shosse debacle. Airport transport between the southern terminals D, E, and F will stop running to northern terminals B and C as of August 1.
With access by road this July so restricted by road-works many more people were taking the train to the northern terminals, and then using airport provided transport if they had to go south. “The decision to cancel the shuttle service around the airport’s outer road was taken because [the already existing] transport [of buses and taxis] on the internal road has proven so effective,” the airport said in statement. Demand for the extra service had diminished considerably.
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Unauthorized taxis a thorn in the side of Moscow authorities
Moscow authorities have complained that federal legislation prevents them from solving the problem of unauthorised cabs which dominate the city's taxi market.
The regulation “On taxi operation in the city of Moscow”, adopted two years ago, is essentially not working, because under the amendments to federal legislation which took effect in 2005, taxi operation is no longer subject to licensing, Trud newspaper reported.
According to the report, the amendments gave a boost to “the taxi black market”, which is currently estimated to account for three quarters of all of the city’s 40,000 taxis.
City Hall is complaining that unless new amendments are adopted on a federal level, it can do little about unauthorized cabs that attract customers with cheaper fares, while people who take cabs run by unauthorized drivers in most cases don’t seem to care about safety and other issues associated with services that are provided illegitimately.
Even though the number of legitimate taxi operators has increased dramatically over the last few years, most people still prefer flagging down a car to calling a legitimate cab, and reports about crimes committed against passengers by unauthorized cab drivers don’t seem to deter them.
The Moscow authorities have been promising to solve the problem of the taxi black market since the old centralized city system collapsed in the early 1990s and was replaced by operations believed to be largely controlled by organized crime. So far, not much has been achieved.
Head of the Moscow government’s Transport and Communication Department Vasily Kichedzhi told Trud that one possible step to curb illegal taxi operation in the city would be a sharp increase in fines for violating parking rules, which should go up to several thousands of roubles.
But he added that amendments to the federal law would also be vital. “Federal law should stipulate concrete and strict rules,” he said. “Only people over 21 possessing a relevant type of driver’s license should be allowed to drive taxis. All taxis should have a specified colour and be equipped with meters and other equipment allowing control of fares.”
According to Vasily Kichedzhi, a set of proposed amendments to the federal legislation dealing with taxis is to be submitted to the state Duma shortly.
The authorities also drew upon the example of neighbouring Belarus, where under amendments adopted earlier this year illegitimate cab drivers can have their cars confiscated.
Meanwhile, experts say that the issue of illegal cabs is complicated and can’t be solved by means of introducing strict measures.
“The issue cannot be solved by bans alone,” said Sergei Kanayev, head of the Moscow chapter of the Russian Car Owners' Federation.
According to Kanayev, the best way to address the problem would be an open discussion involving all interested parties. “It is important to hear everyone, not just licensed taxi operators,” he said.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Kyiv restricts traffic on 70 streets and bridges on May 1-4 for patching of roads
In particular, the Kyivavtodor municipal corporation will perform patching on the following streets: Bozhenko Street, Slavhorodska Street, Sormovska Street, Maryny Raskovoi Street, Florentsii Street, Tumaniana Street, Heroiv Dnipra Street, Bohatyrska Street, Darvina Street, Zverynetska Street, Kropyvnytskoho Street, Syretskoi Street, Naberezho-Khreschatytska Street, Honty Street, Kyrponosa Street, and Koltsova Boulevard.
In the night of between May 1 and May 2, the Kyivavtodor municipal corporation will repair the overpass at the cross of Bohatyrska Street and Obolonskyi Avenue.
On May 2, the Kyivavtodor municipal corporation will repair the following streets: Bozhenko Street, Slavhorodska Street, Sormovska Street, Radunska Street, Instytutska Street, Syretska Street, Naberezho-Khreschatytska Street, Honty Street, Nahirna Street, Verkhovynna Street, Horbachova Street, Moskovska Street, Plekhanova Street, Davydova Boulevard, and Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard.
On May 3, the Kyivavtodor municipal corporation will repair the following streets: Dubynina Street, Promyslova Street, Shevchenko Street, Radunska Street, Elektrotekhnichna Street, Balzaka Street, Krakovska Street, Bazhova Street, Chervonoflotska Street, Naberezho-Khreschatytska Street, Berezhanska Street, Petropavlivska Street, Verkhovynna Street, Horbachova Street, Polovetska Street, Bakinska Street, Pymonenko Street, Symyrenko Street, Syretska Street, Belytska Street, Tsytadelna Street, Leiptsyzska Street, Obolonskyi Avenue, and Independence Square.
The Southern Bridge will undergo repair works in the night between May 3 and May 4 and in the night between May 4 and May 5.
On May 4, the Kyivavtodor municipal corporation will repair the following streets: Dubynina Street, Slavhorodska Street, Pukhovska Street, Chervonohvardiiska Street, Azerbaidzhanska Street, Pryozerna Street, Berezhanska Street, Petropavlivska Street, Kopulovska Street, Bohatyrska Street, Buslovska Street, Naberezho-Khreschatytska Street, Bakinska Street, Pymonenko Street, Tatarska Street, Nahorna Street, Kablukova Street, Novoselytska Street, Sormovska Street, Syretska Street, Belytska Street, Shevchenko Street, and Independence Square.
The corporation will perform works on Bazhana Avenue and Komarova Avenue on May 1 through May 4.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Kyivavtodor municipal corporation projects to use nearly UAH 101 million for the current repair of roads in the city in 2010.
The municipal corporation plans to repair nearly 7 million square meters of roads for the funds.
The Kyivavtodor municipal corporation plans to complete the patching of roads until May 20
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Russia,Belarus, Ukraine Restrict Airspace Because Of Ash
Belarus closed its airspace overnight to flights at altitudes between 6,000 and 11,000 metres, but some routes east and south were open, the head of the aviation security department, Vladimir Nagulevich, told Reuters.
Ukraine's Aerosvit airline said the main Kiev airport would remain closed until at least 1800 GMT and possibly into Sunday.
Ukraine's Lvov, Odessa, Donetsk, Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk airports were also closed to flights for an unspecified period.
Europe's air travel chaos deepened on Saturday as the huge cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland spread further across the continent, halting nearly three in four flights and stranding passengers worldwide.
Authorities in Belarus said they were offering to waive visa requirements for European Union citizens stranded in Russia and willing to return to the EU by road or rail through Belarus.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Drivers In Ukraine Suffer Europe's Worst Roads
"When you drive, you have to look for your route as there is hole after hole. The roads are so bad in small towns, that your wheels are coming off,” said Anatoliy Krivenko, a Ukrainian driver who frequently travels to different parts of the country.
Krivenko says that driving the roads in Ukraine is almost not doable because of all of the potholes. His car was severely damaged last winter, “I had to change a running gear and other parts. I have worn out the rotor four times,” he said.
According to the Ukravtodor, Ukraine's national road service, more than 60 percent of the roads are in need of a complete overhaul, with 30 percent of those considered to be in state of emergency.
To make matters worse, local and state roads in Ukraine have been increasingly damaged due to severe weather this winter. Temperature changes and the huge amount of snow on the roads caused melting water to penetrate Ukraine's poorly constructed roads, creating potholes of various sizes.
Elena Slavinskaja, an assistant professor from Ukraine's National Transport University, says that the main reason for the poor road conditions is the lack of financing and the low quality of road construction methods.
“The total amount of financing for the development of the public road network and its maintenance has consistently decreased,” Slavinskaja said.
“The road conditions are directly related to the quality of road-building materials, primarily the asphalt bitumen which is made from low quality petroleum,” she says.
The question of funding is a problematic issue for each sector in Ukraine. The reconstruction of the main roads is funded by the state budget, but this has not been developed yet.
Road service workers are attempting to repair the potholes. Officials say that if there is enough financing, they can manage to repair the potholes by the summer. However, this would require roughly $800 million in funds.
But according to Slavinskaja, who stated that Ukraine's roads are the worst in Europe, that would not solve the problem because the cracks would remain, through which water will once again penetrate creating new holes.
With construction of new soccer stadiums for the 2012 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) championship in Ukraine already behind schedule, Ukraine's poor road infrastructure makes things worse. The government has promised to meet the financing needed to finish the projects in time for the championship.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Ukraine, Russia To Construct Transport Bridge Over The Kerch Strait
The joint resolution regarding the construction of the transport pass across the Kerch strait will be inked during the meeting of Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev with his Ukrainian counterpart scheduled for May 17-18, 2010, TSN TV channel reported.
“The bridge will be constructed from the Ukrainian sea port of Kerch to the Russian port in the Krasnodarskiy region, Yanukovych said Thursday in the Crimea.
“I think that Russia is interested in the construction of the bridge in terms of conduction of the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014. I believe that we, together with President Dmitriy Medvedev, May 17-18 will adopt a joint decision in regard of the bridge construction. The bridge should be constructed the quickest possible way,” Yanukovych emphasized.
During his prime minister tenure in 2007 Yanukovych has declared that the bridge over the Kerch strait to connect the Crimea with Krasnodarskiy region would be constructed by the Euro 2012 soccer championship.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
New metros, new gridlock
Moscow's metro will mark its 75th anniversary by opening two new stations - but the network is still 110 km too short to serve the whole city.
However, that shortfall is nothing compared with the average 980 km of traffic jams choking Moscow's streets every morning.
Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov said that more than a quarter of Muscovites were not properly connected to the metro network, though he pledged to reduce that number to 17 per cent in the coming years.
The first step towards that will be the opening of two stations at the northern end of the light green line - Dostoyevskaya and Marina Roshcha - providing a convenient link to the Garazh Centre for Contemporary Arts, among other destinations.
They will welcome their first passengers on May 15, the 75th anniversary of the opening of the network in 1935.
Biryukov added that work was continuing at Kosino and Orekhovo-Borisovo stations, extending the yellow line further east and beginning to complete the loop which will join the light and dark green lines at Krasnogvardeiskaya.
Meanwhile the need to further extend public transport in Moscow was graphically illustrated in December when snowfalls paralysed the city's roads.
Figures compiled by website Yandex.Probki estimated that the total length of traffic jams on an average working morning in December was 980 km - matching the distance from Moscow to Kiev.
And the New Year brought little relief for frustrated motorists, with researchers saying that traffic flows on Moscow's ring roads were "constantly growing", gzt.ru reported.
Queues will hopefully become shorter at five metro stations where passengers will soon be able to buy tickets from automatic machines.
Following operational tests, the machines will start work in mid-March at VDNKh, Timiryazevskaya, Savyolovskaya, Ulitsa 1905 Goda and Paveletskaya (green line) and will accept coins and notes.
Travellers can use them to replenish transportation cards, the Metro's official website reported.