Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sobyanin launched river boats in Moscow as a form of urban public transport
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President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin launched river boats in Moscow as a form of urban public transport. The year-round route from Kievsky railway station to Shelepikha was launched by 50-seat electric river trams with panoramic windows. Under the terms of the 15-year contract, ships should sail to Fili, and in 2023 the launch of a route from Pechatniki to Avtozavodsky Bridge is also promised. Transportation was supposed to start in the summer of 2022, but there were delays in receiving seats, information screens and interior elements, the ship manufacturer explained to Kommersant. Over the year, the contract amount increased from 19.5 billion to 26 billion rubles.
Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sobyanin launched Russian electric ships at the Northern River Station in Moscow – a meeting was held there on the development of inland waterways. The first ship was supposed to go along the Moscow River from the Kievsky railway station, so the start was given via video link.
“Good luck, good luck… I give you permission,” the president said. The ship, hooting, set off from the pier.
“It hums like a real one,” Mr. Sobyanin said. You can pay for travel on electric ships with regular travel tickets, bank cards, Troika cards, as well as using Face Pay. Until June 23, travel from the Kievsky railway station to Shelepikha will be free. Eight vessels are to run along the route.
In December 2021, the structure of the capital’s mayor’s office – GKU “Organizer of Transportation” – summed up the results of the competition for the supply of services for “regular passenger transportation by inland water transport.” A 15-year life cycle contract was concluded with OJSC Vodokhod. Passenger Port (a subsidiary of Vodokhod, Russia’s largest operator of river cruises). Under the terms of the contract, 21 electric passenger ships are to be delivered to Moscow, 23 pontoon floating berths, six coastal charging stations and two “fleet basing points” (in the Mnevnikovskaya floodplain and Nagatinsky backwater) are to be installed. The tender documents stipulate that these are 50-seater steel vessels, approximately 22 m long, with two electric motors (134 kW each), LFP batteries (470 kWh) and a toilet. Pravosredstva should develop a cruising speed of eight knots (14.8 km / h), have a ten-hour power reserve, passing 205 km and 105 km on a single charge (in summer and winter, respectively). It was also stipulated that the vessels should have panoramic glazing and LED lighting around the perimeter (of five changing colors). For ships, round pontoon berths of two sizes have been installed – with a radius of 10 m and 16 m – with a cafe, information screens and bike racks. To save time, trams should be moored to the pontoons with their bows, not sides.
Under the terms of the contract (for an initial amount of 19.5 billion rubles), transportation was supposed to begin in July 2022, but the start was postponed. In July last year, the city authorities pointed to “the need to quickly replace some of the components, optimize supply chains” and switch “from foreign spare parts to Russian components.” Denis Tkachev, executive director of the Emperium shipyard (built ships on the order of Vodokhod), explained the delay with logistical problems: the company did not receive seats, information screens and other interior elements on time. Mr. Tkachev then assumed that passenger traffic would be launched in September 2022. Alexei Mityaev, deputy head of the Moscow Department of Transport, previously reported that changes would be made to the 15-year contract.
Judging by the public procurement website, there were at least six adjustments to this document, and the final contract of May 2023 increased in price to 26.2 billion rubles. The number, type of ships, berths and other basic parameters, however, remained unchanged in it.
Judging by the contract documentation, the route from the Kievsky railway station through Shelepikha should be extended to Fili (with stops, for example, at Moscow City and Verkhniye Mnevniki). In addition, the document stipulates the launch of ships from Avtozavodsky Bridge to Pechatniki (with stops at ZIL, the South River Station and on Kolomenskaya Embankment). The city hall reported that this will happen in the fourth quarter of 2023. At the same time, Mr. Sobyanin promised to launch three more routes for electric vessels “in the coming years”. “Thus, the entire water area of the Moscow River within the boundaries of the city will be covered in one way or another by passenger traffic,” the mayor assured. In what other directions the electric ships will be launched, Mr. Sobyanin did not specify. The mayor described the whole project as “the revival of regular river transport”, specifying that it was stopped in Moscow 32 years ago.
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