The restoration of the Crimean Bridge was completed ahead of schedule
Traffic along the restored railway track of the Crimean Bridge was opened ahead of schedule.
Last October, a freight train carrying tank cars caught fire there. It did not explode thanks to the courage and heroism of the driver and his assistant, but the tracks and two spans were damaged, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“The builders accomplished a real feat in restoring this important facility. Thanks to their dedicated work, the automobile part of the bridge was completely opened in February a month and a half ahead of schedule.
Now we have launched traffic on the second track of the railway section - and also ahead of schedule,” noted Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin in his Telegram channel. – I consider it symbolic that traffic on the Crimean Bridge has been resumed on the eve of one of the most important holidays in our country – Victory Day. The completion of the work is a victory for the whole team.”
It took 7 months to completely restore the Crimean Bridge. Builders replaced four spans on the road part and two spans on the railway part of the bridge. Most of the work took place during the winter storm season, when shipping in the Kerch Strait is prohibited.
“It’s great that the second line was launched a month and a half ahead of schedule,” former people’s deputy Oleg Tsarev wrote in his Telegram channel. “This will allow us to transport more cargo and lighten the load on ferries a little, and perhaps slightly reduce queues at the borders of the land corridor.
As for the transportation of passengers, the problem here is not the bridge’s capacity, but the lack of tickets, especially for fast trains. For example, for the May holidays you can leave Moscow either on the top two (probably the outermost) shelves, or in a luxury compartment for the insane amount of 144 thousand rubles.”
Already in the first ten days of May, it is planned to transport 200 thousand passengers by rail to Crimea and in the opposite direction, which is twice as much as last year’s flow. In total, about 3 million people should travel by train to Crimea and back over the summer.
There is an enhanced security regime on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge with checks of vehicles and luggage. Trucks, despite the promise to allow Gazelles and empty trucks to pass, are only allowed on the land route through Melitopol, Mariupol and Rostov.
From May 1, the number of inspection points was increased for manual checks and through baggage belts. There is still only one X-ray scanner, which creates a queue for scanning the entire car.
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