“Moscow-Simferopol” paralyzed the already problematic strait of Kerch
Kyiv, August 9 – The recently launched Russian train that tied Moscow and Simferopol will no longer be transported through the Kerch Strait.
The issue is that the train, which Russian Railways specifically launched to circumvent continental Ukraine, makes the already difficult situation with the ferry even more complicated.
Deputy Minister for Transport of Russia Viktor Olerskiy said: “Up until now we have observed a big flow of holidaymakers headed to Crimea; we are having difficulties dealing with all of them, and an even more complicated situation is predicted within the coming days in the opposite direction. Therefore, taking the complexity of the situation into account, it is important to use railway ferries for passenger transportation and reexamine the logistics of delivering the passenger trains “Simferopol-Moscow” and “Moscow-Simferopol,” which have two railway ferries assigned to them.”
Long lines for the ferry were observed even before the launch of this train, but now, because of train, embarking [on the ferry] takes 30 hours.
Therefore, the Russian Transport Ministry decided to force passengers to disembark with their personal belongings and transport them through the strait of Kerch on the regular passenger ferry. Another train will await them on the other side. The carriages themselves will not go over the strait, and the ferries that had previously been transporting them before will be turned over for passenger transportation.
[hr]Source: NRTranslated by Mariya Shcherbinina, edited by Andrew Kinder
