Putin Opens Rail Bridge over Kerch Strait, as First Train Departs St. Petersburg for Crimea

Dec. 23, 2019 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin went to Crimea on Dec. 23 to join a ceremony for officially opening rail service on the bridge from Taman in mainland Russia to Kerch on Crimea, and by videoconference ordered the train to leave from St. Petersburg. For several months from now, the rail connection will be open for passenger transfer, and freight transport along the route will be opened sometime later in 2020. Construction of the road part of the bridge was completed a year ago, reported the U.S. Radio Free Europe. Crimeans voted in 2014 to rejoin the Russian Federation. The President told fellow Russians: “Today we have a pleasant and a very important occasion. It is important for Crimea, Sevastopol, the entire south of Russia and the whole of Russia, because, of course, such infrastructure facilities as this tremendous bridge will influence the entire economy.

“However, I would like to tell you that today, we are not launching the traffic but restoring it, because originally train traffic to St. Petersburg—and the first train will be from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol—was launched 145 years ago. “Over the course of Russian history, this train service has been interrupted only three times: during the 1917 October Revolution, during the Great Patriotic War and in 2014. You have restored it.... Congratulations on this. This is a great occasion.

“You know, there is also another important thing: not just that millions of cars have used the bridge since it was opened or that millions of passengers will travel this way next year. This is also a great occasion. Almost 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo are expected next year.

“There is something more important. It is more important that your hard work, talent, perseverance and determination have proven that Russia is capable of implementing infrastructure projects at the global level. This is not just the largest bridge in Russia, but also the longest in Europe.... “Thank you very much for your persistence and your talent, thanks to everyone: builders, engineers, scientists, archeologists and environmentalists. This is a great, enormous and powerful team uniting people from all across Russia from the Far East to its European part.”

In November, the privately owned Grand Service Express railway company announced that the first train would depart from St. Petersburg for Sevastopol on Dec. 23 and would travel 2,741 km in 43.5 hours. The segment from Moscow to Crimea’s capital, Simferopol, is scheduled to depart on Dec. 24 and travel 2,009 km in 33 hours.