Build a bypass railroad. Russian trains are already going around Ukraine. Chronology. Now passenger trains also bypass Ukraine

New double track electrified railway with a length of 137 km, it runs away from the Russian-Ukrainian border through the territories of the Voronezh and Rostov regions. Until today, all Russian trains in the Caucasus direction, including Moscow-Adler, travel 26 km through the Lugansk region, crossing the state border twice.

The main reason for the construction of the bypass line was concern for traffic safety, because the technical condition of the roadbed on the Ukrainian section of the highway connecting Moscow with the resorts of the Black Sea coast leaves much to be desired. In addition, there are inconveniences associated with crossing the border. With the opening of the new road, trains will travel through Russian territory.

As noted by the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu, the Zhuravka-Millerovo section has great value for safe and intensive transportation of passengers and cargo in the southern direction of the country.

Along the route, seven railway stations were modernized: Zaytsevka, Sergeevka, Sokhranovka, Kuteinikovo, Vinogradovka, Kolodezi and Bochenkovo. The maximum speed of passenger trains will be 140 km/h, for freight trains - 90 km/h. According to official data, the federal budget spent 55 billion rubles on the project.

Progress or oblivion?

The old railway going towards Ukraine and the new bypass are clearly visible from the M-4 Don federal highway between the city of Millerovo and the village of Malchevskaya, Rostov region. Some motorists stop and take selfies. Train traffic here is intense, trains leave every ten minutes. Soon the locomotives will change direction and begin to turn towards the Russian side.

New railway bypassing Ukraine. Kuteinikovo station (Chertkovsky district). Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

The upcoming event will change the lives of many villagers in the border settlements of the Chertkovsky and Millerovsky districts of the Rostov region. For some people, a new piece of hardware means progress, for others it means oblivion.

Second life of Maryana farm

The new Kuteinikovo station is located on the territory of the Maryany farm; the railway came here for the first time. A three-story building for duty shifts has already been built here and the equipment is being connected. The electrical substation is ready, construction of a station for passengers will begin soon. In the village, in addition to the seven streets, one more was added, on which two sixteen-apartment buildings for railway workers are being built.

Builders are finishing the arrangement of the adjacent territory of the new railway. Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

At first, the residents of Maryanovsk were wary of large-scale construction, but gradually realized their advantage. The most important thing is that many of them have found work at their place of residence and now do not leave their families for distant lands to earn money. Contracting organizations hired Maryanovsk residents as drivers, machine operators, and cooks.

“Of course, I am pleased with the changes that the railway has brought to the lives of my fellow countrymen. Maryana's farm begins a second life. The territory of the Kuteinikovo railway station is growing and being improved,” says the head of the rural settlement, Vitaly Neshcheret. In his opinion, personnel from Chertkovo will be transferred to Kuteinikovo, so existing railway workers will not lose their jobs.

"Hole in the Budget"

For residents of the settlement of Kolodezi, as well as the village of Maryany, the railway is a new thing. A crossing was built a few kilometers from Kolodezei, and now the usual sedate life of the villagers has changed. People are adapting to new realities and getting used to the proximity of a steel highway.

The head of the Kolodezyansky rural settlement, Viktor Rudoy, ​​calculates both the pros and cons: “The budget of the rural settlement now has a hole of 50 thousand rubles for the land confiscated by the “federals” from farmers, which is 300 hectares. We won’t receive enough taxes on them now.”

In settlements adjacent to the railway, they are updating highways, build bridges. Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

The “piece of iron” affected the interests of thousands of land shareholders; collective farmers receive compensation. Rural entrepreneurs had to change their business strategy because the canvas divided the fields into two parts. Some farms had equipment on one side and land on the other.

Places for agricultural machinery to pass under the tracks were agreed upon with the builders, not without problems. As a result, they managed to find a balance of interests; the railway workers heard the local population. The “Punctures” were built to the required width; even the combine harvester with the header passes under the railway. Therefore, the farmers’ fears were in vain.

Viktor Rudoy notes the advantage of being next to a railway station: “The villagers have new jobs. At the Kolodezi station, seven people service the power plant; personnel will also be required to maintain the bridge. There are plans to build three four-apartment houses for railway workers.”

The road bypassing Ukraine is located 25 km from the border. Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

The “piece of iron” left the villagers

But not all settlements are as lucky as the village of Maryany or the settlement of Kolodezi. There are also those that the thread did not reach.

The population of the small village of Malchevskaya, which, like the regional center of Chertkovo, was left aside by the new “piece of iron”, will suffer more than others due to the change in traffic.

The settlement owes its almost one and a half century history to railway workers. In 1865, a station was built in Malchevskaya on the railway leading from Voronezh to Rostov, and all the years life in the village flourished thanks to the industry. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, long-distance passenger trains Tambov-Rostov, Zhdanov-Voronezh, Moscow-Rostov and many others stopped in Malchevskaya, but now only one electric train Rostov-Chertkovo makes a short stop.

The main feature of the station in Malchevskaya in the seventies and eighties were two buffets, open around the clock, in which they sold alcohol by the glass: beer, wine, vodka. Many train passengers traveling to southern resorts or home to Moscow knew about this fact and were looking forward to the stop. During the ten minutes of parking, some holidaymakers managed to get so pumped up that they then ran after the train. There were also those who lagged behind the train...

Trains are still passing through Chertkovo station: the passage to the tracks is blocked by an embankment. Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

But there is another side to the life of village residents: the death of people under the wheels of trains. “Empty trains” stand for hours (or even days) waiting for trains to form, so locals are forced to “dive” under the cars in order to cross to the opposite side.

“Accidents are not uncommon here. Last year a man was hit by a train, I identified him. My grandmother also died: she did not hear the signal of an oncoming train,” said the head of the Malchevsky rural settlement, Alexander Gusakov. “We asked to build a pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks for many decades for the safety of people, but it was built at the neighboring Bochenkovo ​​station, through which the new line passed.”

The village head is disappointed that the designers chose the Bochenkovo ​​crossing, where there are practically no residents, and not Malchevskaya, where 3.5 thousand villagers live. Alexander Gusakov is sure that without the “hardware” his fellow countrymen will feel worse: “For us this is not good news at all, because we are already attached to it. The railway provided jobs at the oil depot and elevator, but now I don’t know what will happen. They say they won’t clean up the old road, but I don’t believe it. After all, Russia pays money for travel through the territory of Ukraine.”

Chertkovo on the side of the road

Chertkovo station, located in the regional center, will also lose its hub status. Here, Ukrainians from the neighboring village of Melovoe are more worried than others. Many residents of the neighboring state use the Rostov-Chertkovo train to travel to work in Rostov-on-Don. Now it is unclear whether the electric train will be left on the old line. Now it’s very convenient for Ukrainians: they crossed the railway bridge and immediately found themselves at the Russian Chertkovo station.

“It’s better for the country, of course, but it’s inconvenient for us,” says Chertkovo resident Alexandra Fomenko. “We hope that the Chertkovo station building will be abandoned, but will they keep it staffed for the sake of one train?”

The village of Chertkovo today. Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

The head of the administration of the Chertkovsky rural settlement, Tatyana Bezgina, is more optimistic in her forecasts: “In my opinion, the bypass will not affect the residents of the village. We don’t travel by train every day.”

Nevertheless, changes in the lives of Chertkovtsy residents can already be observed, and of a positive nature. A year ago, the twenty-five-kilometer highway from Chertkovo to Kuteinikovo did not stand up to criticism, it was full of potholes and potholes. Now the track has been thoroughly repaired, driving along it is a pleasure. According to the designers' plan, Chertkovo will be replaced by Kuteinikovo. Long-distance passenger trains traveling from Moscow to the south and back will stop here.

Work for construction site received by local residents. Photo: AiF/ Vitaly Kolbasin

Continuation of the Center-South project

In terms of strategic importance, experts compare the new Zhuravka-Millerovo railway section with the Kerch Bridge and the construction of a railway in Eastern Siberia and the Far East (the Baikal-Amur Mainline). But this is only the beginning of Russian Railways’ large-scale plans in the Center-South direction. The next stage is the construction of the Moscow-Rostov-Adler high-speed line (HSR). Construction of the Rostov-Krasnodar-Adler and Tula-Voronezh sections is planned for 2021-2025. By 2030, they plan to build a high-speed railway between Rostov and Voronezh. The total travel time from Moscow to Rostov will be 4.5 hours (instead of 18 hours by passenger train), from Rostov to Adler - 3.5 hours (instead of 11 hours).

On August 7, 2017, train traffic was opened on the Zhuravka-Millerovo section of the railway, reports NTV channel. Thanks to this route, Russian trains traveling to the south of the country will not cross the territory of Ukraine.

Participated in the ceremony marking the completion of construction Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Who took part in the construction.

“Undoubtedly, the brigade’s glorious chronicle will include the construction of the Zhuravka-Millerovo railway section in the shortest possible time. It is of great importance for ensuring the intensity and safety of transportation in the southern direction of the country,” Gazeta.ru quotes the Russian Defense Minister as saying.

The problem is 26 kilometers

Since Soviet times, the main railway line connecting Central Russia with the southern regions passed through the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. After the collapse of the USSR, Russian railway workers had to change routes to get rid of the need double crossing state border.

Until recently, a section of the railway about 26 kilometers long connecting the Central federal district and the Rostov region, passed through the territory of the Lugansk region of Ukraine almost along the border with Russia. Russian trains from some regions still had to cross the border twice on their way to Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.

There were several projects for the construction of a new section of the route, but it never came to fruition. But the 2014 coup in Kyiv and the subsequent deterioration of relations between the two countries forced them to act quickly.

Drag Zhuravka - Millerovo Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Finished it in two years

Several options for routing the bypass of the section passing through the territory of Ukraine were considered: Zhuravka - Sheptukhovka (length 149 km), Kantemirovka - Sheptukhovka (146.1 km) and Zhuravka - Millerovo (122.5 km). As a result, an option with a length of 122.5 km was approved, which allows moving the route of the highway away from the state border without significantly lengthening the route.

On the new section of the highway, railway stations were to be built: Zaitsevka and Sergeevka in the Voronezh region, Sokhranovka, Kuteinikovo, Vinogradovka and Kolodezi in the Rostov region, as well as a bridge across the Belaya Kalitva River.

The order of the Russian government on the construction of the Zhuravka - Millerovo highway was signed in September 2015. As stated Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the new line should ensure stable and independent movement of trains, so as “not to be tied to the problems and troubles that, unfortunately, continue with our neighbors.”

Both civilian specialists and railway troops were involved in the construction of the route.

On April 20, 2016, laying of the railway track began. It was planned that the line would be put into permanent operation in the 3rd quarter of 2017. It can be stated that the task was completed on time.

Zhuravka - Millerovo, then everywhere

The double-track electrified railway Zhuravka - Millerovo is designed for a capacity of up to 100 pairs of trains per day. The design speed of the rolling stock in this section is 160 km per hour.

“This facility will provide not only high-speed passage for passengers and freight trains in the direction of the south of our country, but will also allow, in the shortest possible time, by ensuring the construction of this route, to ensure independence from the border of nearby Ukraine,” Interfax quotes the words Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov, speaker at the ceremony.

IN soon At the new section, work will continue to prepare for the operation of the route in the designed mode.

“Work traffic on the Zhuravka - Millerovo section is open. Thus, we can say that the operation of this double-track electrified railway, which was built to bypass neighboring Ukraine, has begun,” Interfax quotes an informed source as saying.

It was initially planned to fully commission the railway, which had passed all the necessary tests, along with all station, platform and auxiliary structures in 2018.

Having solved the most urgent problem, the railway workers do not intend to stop there. Currently, preparatory work is underway for the construction of the Prokhorovka - Zhuravka - Chertkovo - Bataysk highway, bypassing Ukraine, with a length of 748 kilometers. This highway will not only take the main routes of Russian trains even further away from Ukrainian territory. We are talking about the possibility of launching expressway, which will reduce travel time from Moscow to the Black Sea resorts to 15 hours.

MOSCOW, December 11 – RIA Novosti. Starting today, Russian Railways is launching all long-distance passenger trains on a railway that bypasses the territory of Ukraine.

The decision to build a double-track electrified line on the Zhuravka - Millerovo section was made after the deterioration of relations with Kiev in 2014. In August 2017, the work came to an end, and in September freight trains were launched on the new railway.

All trains

Passenger trains traveling along the old line without stops were switched to a railway bypass in mid-November. The remaining trains were planned to be launched before the end of this year. We are talking about 62 pairs of passenger and 30 pairs of freight trains.

According to Russian Railways Director for Passenger Transportation Dmitry Pegov, this process should take no more than a day - from December 10 to 11.

After this, passenger trains will stop running on the Ukrainian section and will run by rail on Russian territory.

To the south along a new bypass

The length of the new line reaches 137 kilometers, it passes through the Voronezh and Rostov regions. This route will ensure transport safety of freight and passenger traffic. The road capacity has also increased.

The Zhuravka - Millerovo line has become part of the high-speed railway that connects Central Russia with the Black Sea coast. Passenger trains will be able to travel on new road at speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour, and freight ones - up to 90 kilometers per hour. In the summer, up to 190 trains per day will travel on this route, most of them long-distance passenger trains.

General Director of the Institute for Problems of Natural Monopolies (IPEM) Yuri Sahakyan told RIA Novosti that the launch of the new line has many advantages. Firstly, the risk that trains will have to stop en route is significantly reduced, and any stop may result in the train being late. Secondly, it is more convenient for passengers to travel without crossing borders, especially when it comes to a state with which relations remain tense.

The expert noted that modern technologies are always used during the construction of new lines, which means that, even if only on a small area, the comfort of the trip will certainly increase.

MOSCOW, August 11 – RIA Novosti. Russian Railways have completed construction and installation work on the railway section bypassing Ukraine and plan to open train traffic on this line by the end of autumn.

"Russian Railways has completed construction and installation work on the new Zhuravka - Millerovo railway line and has begun commissioning and test operation of individual sections of the line," the company reports.

A test train, consisting of a locomotive and several freight cars, has already passed along a 122-kilometer section from Zhuravka station to Bochenkovo ​​station. In the remaining areas, pre-launch work is being completed.

Construction of the Zhuravka - Millerovo railway began in 2014, after the deterioration of relations with Ukraine. The new line, 137 kilometers long, runs entirely through the territory of Russia (through the Voronezh and Rostov regions), which will increase capacity and ensure transport safety of freight and passenger traffic.

The project involved a division of Russian Railways, Roszheldorstroy, and the railway troops. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Defense announced that all construction tasks had been completed, in total 277 kilometers of tracks were built.

Test operation

“The test operation of the Zhuravka - Millerovo line will allow us to check the readiness of the railway infrastructure, establish the operation of traffic control systems, and also prepare the locomotive crews who will operate trains on this section,” the Russian Railways said in a statement.

The road is double-track along its entire length and electrified; seven stations were built here: Zaytsevka, Sergeevka, Sokhranovka, Kuteinikovo, Vinogradovka, Kolodezi and Bochenkovo.

The project, as the company notes, is characterized by a large number of artificial structures - 98 objects, including five bridges, including a bridge over the Kalitva River 158 meters long, one viaduct, four road overpasses, two cattle runs, 20 overpasses for the passage of agricultural machinery, 66 culverts.

Trains will go faster

Another feature of the line was the large volume of excavation work - 41.5 million cubic meters, which made it possible to level out the height difference.

“Thanks to this, the highway will become part of the high-speed railway connecting Central Russia with the Black Sea coast. According to the project maximum speed train movement: passenger - 140 kilometers per hour with the prospect of increasing to 160 kilometers per hour, freight - up to 90 kilometers per hour," Russian Railways reports.

To electrify the site, it was necessary to reconstruct two traction substations (Zhuravka and Staraya Stanitsa) and build two new ones - Sergeevka, Kuteinikovo and Kolodezi. In addition, 318 kilometers of power lines were laid.

“At the last stage of construction, work was carried out on ballasting and straightening the track, adjusting the contact network, setting up alarm, centralization and blocking devices, which automatic mode are responsible for the movement of trains,” the message says.

A year earlier

Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov reported in March that the project was implemented a year ahead of schedule and the Moscow-Adler route, bypassing Ukraine, will be launched in the fall.

To reduce construction time, work was carried out simultaneously on all sections of the highway. Four temporary camps were built for the builders, technological highways, temporary electrical networks and other infrastructure were laid.

In addition, work was carried out in the construction zone to clear the area of ​​explosive objects and archaeological excavations of 15 mounds were carried out.

The launch of passenger trains by Russian Railways bypassing Ukraine on a new railway brings Russia both economic benefits and political dividends. About this FBA "Economy Today" said the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economics and Politics at the Higher School of Economics Andrey Suzdaltsev.

“By launching trains bypassing Ukraine, Russia first of all ensures the strategic safety of its cargo and citizens. The Ukrainian authorities could at any time close a section of tracks on the territory controlled by Kyiv in the Lugansk region, which would lead to delivery problems in the strategic southern direction - to Krasnodar and Crimea This threat has been neutralized, and Kyiv has lost another opportunity to create a blockade and put pressure on Moscow.

The Kremlin also received political dividends from this project. By bypassing Ukrainian territory, Moscow showed Ukraine and the European Union that it does not intend to enter into negotiations with Kiev, which will require concessions and bargaining, but will resolve issues of its security “by the method of Peter the Great” - with the help of “an ax and a shovel.” The Russian side demonstrates that the current regime in the neighboring country is incapable of negotiations and one can expect anything from it,” the political scientist notes.

Today, Russian Railways Director for Passenger Transportation Dmitry Pegov announced the first stage of launching passenger trains bypassing Ukraine along the Zhuravka-Millerovo section. This stage implies a schedule without changing time - trains will first be launched without intermediate stops. And starting next year, when the company has a schedule ready, the entire flow of passenger trains will be switched to bypass.

“Moscow shows that it accepts Crimea into the Federation and is ready to invest money in the development of the region and take care of its full integration. Kerch crossing is one of the projects that clearly demonstrates this. By the end of next year, transport accessibility will significantly change the life of the peninsula. And the section of tracks bypassing Ukraine will become strategically important for Crimea with the commissioning of the railway part of the bridge - it is along the rails that the main cargo flow will go to the peninsula,” the expert emphasizes.

The route bypassing Ukraine will pay for itself in 5 years

The construction of the Zhuravka – Millerovo connection in the Rostov and Voronezh regions began in 2014 and cost Russia a billion dollars; freight trains began running on it in September 2017. “We are looking into the issue, because after all, the trains had two additional stops where people got on and off. We cannot leave these settlements without passenger traffic at all, so the issue of working out the schedule is being discussed. But we still need to understand that a section of the line It’s new, we need to break it in,” Pegov said.

The opening of the Zhuravka-Millerovo section will seriously hit Ukraine's budget - Moscow annually transferred about $200 million to Kyiv for rail transit through its territory. Now Russia will simply save this money. The neighboring country will also lose in another economic aspect - with the departure of Russia, the railway section through the Lugansk region becomes useless to anyone. This means that dozens of people serving it remain without work.

“Any severance of transport and logistics ties affects the economy of the state that loses them. After the collapse of the USSR, a strange policy developed in Ukraine - “let’s go to Europe using Russian oil and gas.” These people consider themselves the heirs of the resources of the USSR and the owners of the wealth of the Russian Federation, and the pro-Western policy, in their opinion, sooner or later access to all this will be provided.

When Viktor Yanukovych began the policy of “reversing vectors” for Ukraine, he was given to understand: it would no longer be possible to receive the same dividends from the Russian Federation. Until recently, the Ukrainian authorities were confident that Moscow would come to them to negotiate and share. And now politicians in Kyiv are sincerely indignant that with the loss of access to Russian market they lost huge trade incomes. They cannot believe that the Kremlin decided to lose such a “friend” as Ukraine.

But every cloud has a silver lining – Russia has already gained a lot from breaking most of the “dependence factors” on Ukraine. This is not only savings on credit and other support that Moscow has traditionally provided to Kyiv for decades on an equal basis with Minsk. Suffice it to recall the mass exodus of 2014, when large and small businesses left Ukraine for the Russian Federation, people withdrew money to Russia and entire communities emigrated. Ukrainian professionals from all sectors came to us in the thousands. All this has already been integrated into the Russian economy and is bearing fruit,” concludes Andrey Suzdaltsev.