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Thursday, 07.07.2011
Railway has big plans for the Football World Cup in 2018
Moscow. The World Cup 2018 is becoming a traffic related challenge for Russia. The RZD has compiled a list on how the Russian rail network can be improved to support the World Cup. One point is clear, it will be expensive.
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The Research institute for Economic and Transport Development, part of the Russian railway company RZD, has created a concept for the modernisation of the railway infrastructure for passenger transport during the Football World Cup in 2018.
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Football accelerates railway modernisation The concept is to supply the solution to the task given by the Russian Government, on how best to transport passengers and fans to the World Cup cities, according to the president of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin.
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Additionally, the concept is supposed to boost the expansion and modernisation of the Russian rail network.
RZD: The World Cup won’t work without an efficient railway system
The 64 World Cup games will take place in 13 Russian cities. The capacity of the stadiums will be between 45,000 and 90,000 spectators. Experience from previous World Cups show, according to the RZD, that rail travel is essential transport the crowds quickly, safely and in all weather conditions to the venues.
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The Sapsan is to slow: Where the RZD will accelerate
Therefore, the experts of the Russian railway consider the necessity to replace the current Russian ICE-type Sapsan, covering the routes Moscow – St Petersburg and Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod, with true high-speed trains that travel at 300 to 400 km/h. This would only be possible by completely rebuilding the rail tracks on these routes.
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The same high speed it to be made possible on the continuation of the route from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan and even at a possible extension to Yekaterinburg.
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With IC speed into the South and into the Donbass
Second priority is a Express train with a maximum speed of 160 to 200 km/h on the routes between Moscow – Kharkov (Ukrainian territory) – Rostov – Krasnodar – Adler (area of the Olympic buildings in Sochi). The connection between Moscow and Yaroslavl is to be upgraded to the same level.
Between the other venues, such as Saransk, Samara and Volgograd a ‘rapid rail’ will be operating.
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At high speed to Berlin, Kiev and to the Baltic States
The RZD has similar plans in place for the connection from central Russia to the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
The Russian Railway also wants to score points with assisting foreign football fans on their travels. An unspecified ‘rapid transit’ is to be arranged on the routes from Moscow to Minsk and Warsaw to Berlin and from Moscow to Kiev and Riga as wells as between St Petersburg and Tallin. Airports to get rail connections
Spectators who prefer to travel by air will, thanks to the efforts by the RZD, be able transfer faster and in more comfort from the airport to the centres of the host cities. So far only Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Samara operate a train transfer from the airport. The RZD promises further, similar networks in Kasan, Sochi, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Krasnodar and Yaroslal, by 2018.
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Special Shuttle-trains – by day and night
There are additional plans, to offer during the World Cup, to offer on certain routes Day-passenger trains with seating, that travel in two to five hours from one championship to the next.
These trains will be utilised in Central Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg, Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod), Southern Russia (Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Adler) and the Volga (Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Samara, Saransk).
On routes, where a reduction in travel time to five hours is not possible (from Moscow to Kazan, Saransk, Samara, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar), faster night trains will be deployed. The duration of the trip should therefore be between eight and twelve hours.
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The total demand on additional Express and High-speed trains during the time of the Football World Cup is estimated by the RZD planners to amount to 70 train pairs per day.
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The company is silent, however, over the costs of such an ambitious expansion program.
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