High-speed highway Moscow - Kazan. High-speed railway
Kazan is one of the largest citiesRussia and the most important industrial centers of the country. Therefore, the issue of modernizing the transport connection between this settlement and the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, is very urgent. This is due to the increased intensity of passenger and freight traffic in this direction. The railway high-speed Moscow-Kazan highway, the construction of which is planned in the near future, is designed to solve this problem to a large extent.
Transport problems
Now the capital of Russia and Tatarstanconnects a highway of federal significance M7 "Volga" Moscow-Kazan. By car, you can drive it from one end to the other, after spending a good half a day. The highway passes through the cities of Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod. This route is an integral part of the Moscow-Ufa highway. At the same time, it is part of the European road E22.
At its entire distance, the Moscow-Kazan highway (km 820) has a fairly high quality hard coating. At the same time, due to traffic congestion, it often has to be repaired.
In addition, the city is connected by the Moscow-Kazan railway, which dates back to 1897. In 1960, it was electrified.
Currently, existing transportThe arteries between Moscow and Kazan perform the tasks assigned to them only partially. Because of the high traffic intensity on them, and also due to their technical characteristics, they can not provide high-speed communication between these two major cities.
Solutions
The real solution to the problem of overcoming hightime costs on the way between the two cities could only be the high-speed road Moscow-Kazan. There were two ways to implement this idea: building a motorway or a modern railway line. The latter option was preferable, since it would allow to get from the initial to the final destination in a shorter period of time.
So the society gradually approached the idea of creating a CMM Moscow-Kazan.
The idea of the project
So far, the Russian Federation does not existno high-speed railroad track. Alexander Sergeevich Misharin spoke about the creation of such a project for the first time. In 2009, he proposed to build a similar railway line between Moscow and Yekaterinburg. This sphere of activity was not a novelty for him, since he previously held the post of deputy minister of transport.
In 2010, Alexander Sergeevich formalized hisproposal for a specific project. The idea of Misharin was supported by the government of Tatarstan. But at this stage, the dialogue was only at the regional level, since the federal authorities at that time had nothing to do with it.
Development of the idea at the federal level
At the federal level, the idea of building the firstIn Russia, a high-speed railway line was voiced in 2013 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He stated this in Sochi. It was announced that in the nearest future the construction of such a grandiose project as a high-speed Moscow-Kazan highway is planned. At the same time, Vladimir Vladimirovich said that in the future it is possible to consider the option to extend the road to Ulyanovsk and Yekaterinburg.
Direct implementation of the project wasis entrusted to the shoulders of the previously mentioned Alexander Misharin, who by that time was the first vice-president of JSC Russian Railways. At the end of 2013, he was appointed general director of the subsidiary company RZhD JSC "High-Speed Railways", created specifically for the construction of the road.
The term of the BCM Moscow-Kazan construction was scheduled for 2014 - 2018. That is, the work should have been fully completed for the upcoming World Cup in Russia.
Planned path route
High-speed highway Moscow - Kazan will be heldthrough the largest cities of the upper Volga region. At the same time, it is nevertheless planned to build it away from significant concentrations of settlements, so that this factor does not reduce the high-speed characteristics of the highway. For the same purposes, the Moscow-Kazan railway will pass along the most direct route.
The highway will take its start in Moscow,Then it will go down 180 km to Vladimir, in 247 km it will enter Nizhny Novgorod, from which 240 km will pass to Cheboksary. The road in Kazan will finish its way, to which there will be another 136 km.
Thus, the high-speed Moscow-Kazan highway will face a total length of 803 kilometers.
Comparison of a new route with the existing railway
Now let's find out how much from Moscow toKazan makes a way along the existing railway. Its length is 1170 km. Thus, as a result of the project, the distance between cities will be reduced by as much as 367 kilometers.
The gain in time will be much greater. If the old railway had to go 14 hours 7 minutes, the new high-speed highway Moscow - Kazan will allow it to do in just three and a half hours. That is, the time savings will exceed 3.5 times.
Financial aspects
The initial cost of the projectconstruction of the route to Yekaterinburg was estimated at 2.5 trillion rubles. Then, when it was decided at the first stage of construction to bring the road only to Kazan, the total construction costs were significantly reduced. At the moment, the preliminary cost of the project, announced in early 2014, is 949 billion rubles. However, the designers understand that this is a very conditional amount. Taking into account inflation, it can be significantly adjusted and by the time the construction is completed it is significantly more than one trillion rubles.
The bulk of the cost of takingstate structures. In particular, the federal budget, the Pension Fund, the National Welfare Fund. However, it is also planned to attract money of private investors and commercial enterprises to a large extent for the implementation of the project. This form of cooperation is called public-private partnership. Credits of banks and other financial structures will also be one of the sources of financing.
Initially, it was planned to attractforeign investors. However, the European companies were forced to refuse cooperation because of EU sanctions against Russia. Currently, negotiations are under way with China to participate in financing.
Project implementation
At the moment the expressway Moscow -Kazan is only at the design stage. To the direct performance of works on its construction has not yet begun. But this is the prospect of the near future.
The design work is carried out directly by the technical office of JSC "High-Speed Railways", but approved by the scientific and technical council of "RZD".
Currently, the timing of the projectare essentially shifted. So, it was originally intended to begin construction in 2015, and in 2016, to start the first branch of Nizhny Novgorod - Cheboksary, completing the construction of the road in 2018. But at the moment, some members of the Russian government and people directly involved in the implementation of the project say that the construction works are likely to start only in 2017, and the fully high-speed Moscow-Kazan highway will be put into operation by 2020.
Criticism of the project
A number of economic experts, including membersgovernment of the Russian Federation, very much doubt the ultimate payback of the project. They say that the costs are too high, and the overall passenger flow will not reach even the level indicated in the plans. In particular, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced the premature construction of the route Moscow-Kazan.
At the same time, many public figures do not deny the national importance of the project, which contributes to improving the comfort level of travel between the capitals of Russia and Tatarstan.
There are also doubts that due to the Westernsanctions and the beginning of crisis processes in the economy of the country will be able to find all the required financial means for the implementation of construction. In this regard, the prospects for the introduction of the Moscow-Kazan highway into operation even by 2020 are very problematic.
In addition, there are proponents of constructiona new highway between these two cities. Their main argument is the high intensity of cargo transportation in the direction of Moscow - Kazan. By car it is possible to transport not only people, but also cargoes, and the planned railway main is mostly designed for passenger transportation.
Prospects
The main tasks that are to solvethe high-speed railway between Moscow and Kazan, is the reduction in the traffic of vehicles along existing transport routes between these cities, improving the comfort level for passengers and reducing travel time.
It is planned that wagons of convoys movingin this direction, will be divided into four classes: economy, first class, business class and premium. According to preliminary calculations, the ticket price in an economy class from Moscow to Kazan will be 2,300 rubles.
If the project is successfulconstruction of the highway, it is planned to extend it to Ulyanovsk and Yekaterinburg. In addition, Chinese investors expressed interest in laying the route up to Beijing. The government of Russia and the Middle Kingdom have already signed a joint memorandum on the plans for such a grandiose construction.
But this is the prospect of a much more distantfuture. At the moment, the successful implementation of the project for the construction of a high-speed railway line between Moscow and Kazan is on the agenda.
