Revival of passenger transportation by inland water ways
The regions of Russia have set a course for the development of high-speed passenger transportation by rivers. First of all, water communication will be developed on the Volga river. IAA PortNews tells about the revival of this type of transport and the associated difficulties.
“The revival of river transport will stimulate the economy development. Russia is one of the three countries with the longest waterways. An important economic factor: a kilometer of transportation by ship is 15% cheaper as compared with rail, and 25% cheaper as compared with road. The regions with inland waterways account for 90% of GDP and 80% of the population,” said State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, who held a meeting in Nizhny Novgorod on the development of river transportation last week.
According to Vyacheslav Volodin, 16 regions of Russia are crossed by the Volga river, but at the same time today "there is no communication between Astrakhan and Volgograd, Volgograd and Saratov, Saratov and Samara." There are also certain problems that need to be addressed. There is a lack of the developed network for river transportation of passengers between cities; the age of the vessels (more than 65% of the river fleet have reached the end of their nominal service life, and the industry's need is estimated at 500 units); dependence on imported components, lack of spare parts for the repair of navigation systems and equipment; deterioration of ports and berths.
Nizhny Novgorod Region
First of all, high-speed vessels of the Meteor and Valday types are to be used for the transportation of passengers. Passenger hydrofoil of Meteor 120R design has been recently launched in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It is the first of the three Meteors built for the Nizhny Novgorod Region under the agreement with State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK JSC).
According to Governor Gleb Nikitin, the ship will be used on interregional routes. At the same time, 76 ships, including 51 ships of Valday 45R design and 25 ships of Meteor 120R design, will be required to organize transportation from Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Region) to Astrakhan. Such a fleet will be able to transport more than 1.5 million passengers per year.
| Vladimir Putin has given instructions to the Russian Government, to develop together with the involved regions a network of routes for passenger transportation by inland waterways of Russia’s European part for the period until 2035. |
According to Gleb Nikitin, it is necessary to subsidize part of the operating costs to launch the network. It is also necessary to support entities in terms of capital expenditures for subsidizing lease payments.
The head of the region emphasized that the efficiency of fleet management increases with the increase in the number of vessels. In this regard, it is reasonable to support the development of consolidated fleet operators.
In the Nizhny Novgorod Region, both local residents and tourists use water transport services. In 2023, it is planned to transport 80 thousand passengers, and in 2024 - 150 thousand people.
Republic of Tatarstan
A route between Ulyanovsk and Kazan commenced regular operation from August 25. New high-speed passenger hydrofoil Musa Jalil has recently made its first commercial voyage with 45 passenger carried one way and 100 passengers – by the return voyage. At least 9 voyages are to be made by September 10. This route will be subsidized for about one year - some RUB 30 million will be divided between the two entities.
Tatarstan is actively working on the implementation of the federal program "The Great Volga Route", which provides for the launching of interregional routes along the Volga from Astrakhan to Yaroslavl. The authorities of the region pay special attention to the communication along the Kama river.
| Vladimir Putin has given instructions to the Russian Government to finance the construction of at least 200 additional passenger ships, including electric ships, from the National Welfare Fund (NWF) starting from 2025. The implementation deadline is March 1, 2024. |
Apart from communication with other regions, RT Fleet company, created in the spring of 2023, will deal with social routes. It is planned to upgrade the fleet. 4 new vessels have already been received. Tatflot will hand over to the Republic about 30 vessels. They will undergo repair and the work is planned to restore the berthing infrastructure, the river station in Kazan and the landing stages.
The Minister of Transport of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Khanifov says the region planned to increasing the number of passengers on water transport from 330 thousand people a year to 500 thousand. By today, the plan has been fulfilled by 95%.
Rostov region
Passenger transportation by high-speed vessels is to begin by the Don river in the Rostov region in 2024. In April 2023, the Region Government made a decision about the establishment of shipping company Don JSC.
In August 2023, two tenders were held to purchase two Valday 45R vessels for RUB 177 million each. Under the newly signed contracts, one ship is to be supplied to the region not later than October 6, the other – not later than December 6.
The regional authorities are going to revive passenger transportation not only within the region but also link it with the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. However, additional vessels of an appropriate class should be purchased for that purpose.
The recovery of river transportation in the Rostov Region is quite a challenge. There has been no passenger transportation for decades. Besides, Don is a freezing river, hence the issue to address: either to suspend navigation for winter or to purchase hovercraft.
Moscow
In Moscow, the stake is put on electric vessels for transportation of passengers by the river: a regular route was launched in June. Nine environmentally friendly ships sail between the berths of Kievsky Railway Station and the Capital Heart. As of August 23, 3,500 voyages have been made and over 235 thousand passengers have been transported.
The second route is to be put into operation by the end of the year. It will be 9 km long. 9 electric vessels will be put on the route one by one. The development of the required infrastructure is underway.
| By 1 November 2023, the Government is to report on the use of electronic tickets on inland water transport. If necessary, amendments are to be introduced into the legislation of the Russian Federation. A national standard for electric boat charging infrastructure is to be drafted by the same date. |
Moscow Transport Department and Passenger Port OJSC (a company of Vodohod Group) earlier signed a contract for 15 years for providing river transportation services in Moscow. The latter will put into operation 21 passenger ships powered by electricity and will install 23 floating berths, two fleet base points and two shore-based charging stations. The ships will be built at Emperium shipyard near Saint-Petersburg. Electric ships of about 22 meters long have a capacity of up to 50 passengers including places for people with limited mobility. The river boats will be able to transport on two itineraries 15,000 to 16,000 passengers per day.
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