SIMFEROPOL, January
20. /TASS/. The first hundred trains that ran on the newly-opened Crimean
Bridge have transported 85,000 passengers, the Crimean Bridge information
center told reporters on Monday.
"One hundred
passenger trains crossed the Crimean Bridge in just under a month. They
transported 85,000 passengers. The peak traffic was observed on January 3 —
2,800 people went under the railway arch. The one hundredth train was the one
travelling from Sevastopol to St. Petersburg. It crossed the Kerch Strait on
January 19 at 23:10 Moscow time," the statement reads.
Since the railway
traffic was officially launched, the Crimean Bridge is crossed daily by 2-4
Tavriya long-distance passenger trains that connect Crimean cities and towns
with Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tver, Ryazan and a few others, the information
center noted. "The intensity of bridge traffic will only increase as the
number of year-round and seasonal routes of transporting companies expands,"
the statement adds.
The center also
clarified that the railroad is operating as normal. "Automation systems
are working on the bridge which communicate with the command post (electrical
centralization) on the Kerch side. Officers on duty are tracking the schedule
of trains live, correcting their speeds and train intervals," the
statement underlines.
The 19-kilometer
Crimean Bridge, the longest one in Russia and Europe, links the Taman Peninsula
(Russia’s Krasnodar Region) and the Kerch Peninsula (Crimea). The bridge
consists of two parallel rail and car roads built concurrently. It ensures an
uninterrupted transport link between Crimea and other regions of Russia. The
vehicle section of the bridge opened in May 2018.
The construction of
the railway part of the bridge was officially completed on December 18, 2019.
On December 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the official
opening ceremony of the crossing. The railway bridge will open to freight
traffic in July 2020.
Source: ITAR-TASS
20-01-2020
