Transport in Russia

The transport network of the Russian Federation is one of the world's most extensive. The national web of roads, railways and airways stretches almost 4,800 miles (7,700 km) from Kaliningrad in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the east, and major cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg are served by extensive rapid transit systems.

Russia has adopted two national transport strategies in recent years. On 12 May 2005, the Russian Ministry of Transport adopted the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation to 2020. Three years later, on 22 November 2008, the Russian government adopted a revised strategy, extending to 2030.

The export of transport services is an important component of Russia’s GDP. The government anticipates that between 2007 and 2030, the measures included in its 2008 transport strategy will increase the export of transport services to a total value of $80 billion, a sevenfold increase on its 2008 value. Foreign cargo weight transported is expected to increase from 28 million tonnes to 100 million tonnes over the same period.

Rail transport

Electric ED4MKM

Russia has the world's second-largest railway network, second only to that of the United States,[1] with a total track length of 87,157 kilometres (54,157 mi) as of 2011. Of this, 86,200 kilometres (53,600 mi) uses a broad rail gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in), while a narrow gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) is used on a 957-km (595-mile) stretch of railway on Sakhalin Island. Electrified track accounts for around half of the Russian railway network - totalling 40,300 kilometres (25,000 mi) - but carries the majority of railway traffic.[2]

Sakhalin Railway 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

Russian Railways, the state-owned national rail carrier, is one of the world's largest transport companies, enjoying a monopoly over rail transport in Russia. Established in 1992, it employs an estimated 950,000 people, and accounted for 2.5% of the entire national GDP in 2009.[3][4] In 2007 alone, Russian Railways carried a total of 1.3 billion passengers[5] and 1.3 billion tons of freight[6] on its common-carrier routes.

TU7A, Kambarka 750 mm (2 ft 5 12 in)

Rapid-transit systems

Also there is a Metrotram system in Volgograd and three more cities with metro systems under construction:

Narrow gauge railways

Rail links with adjacent countries

Voltage of electrification systems not necessarily compatible.

  • Norway – no – But Proposed Via Finland & Swedenbreak of gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in), or MurmanskKirkenes (10 km of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) on the Norwegian side will probably be widened to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)[citation needed]
  • Finland – Yes — same gauge of 1,524 mm (5 ft)/1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Estonia – Yes — same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Latvia – Yes — same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Lithuania – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Poland – Yes – Via Kaliningrad Oblastbreak of gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
  • Belarus – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Ukraine – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Georgia – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Azerbaijan – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • Kazakhstan – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • China – Yes – break of gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
  • Mongolia – Yes – same gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)
  • North Korea – Yes – break of gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 56 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
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Roads and highways

M54 Yenisei (road)

As of 2006 Russia had 933,000 km of roads, of which 755,000 were paved.[7] Some of these make up the Russian federal motorway system.

NefAZ 5299 bus in Kazan

Road safety in Russia is poor with road accident deaths per million population higher than all countries in the G8 and the other BRIC countries, although the absolute number is actually less than China, India and USA[citation needed]. When assessing the level of risk when travelling on Russia's roads (i.e. the number of accidents per unit of travel) it is 60 times that of Great Britain.[8] With a large land area the road density is the lowest of all the G8 and BRIC countries.[8]Dashcams are widespread, inasmuch as Russian courts prefer video evidence to eye witness testimony, but also as a guard against police corruption and insurance fraud.[9]

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Inland waterways

Total navigable routes in general use: 101,000 km;
routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet 95,900 km;
routes with night navigational aids 60,400 km;
man-made navigable routes 16,900 km (January 1994 est.)

According to the data of the Maritime Board (Morskaya Kollegiya) of the Russian Government for 2004,[10] 136.6 million tons of cargo have been carried that year over Russia's inland waterways, the total cargo transportation volume being 87,556.5 million ton-km. During same year, 53 companies were engaged in carrying passengers over Russia's inland waterways; they transported 22.8 million passengers, the total volume of river passenger transportation being 841.1 million passenger-km.

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Pipelines

crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000 km (June 1993 est.)

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Major sea ports and harbors

Black Sea and Sea of Azov

Novorossiysk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Tuapse, Yeysk.

Baltic Sea

Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, Primorsk, St. Petersburg, Vyborg, Vysotsk.

White Sea, Barents Sea, and other seas of Arctic Ocean

Arkhangelsk, Dudinka, Igarka, Murmansk, Tiksi, Vitino.

Seas of Pacific Ocean

Kholmsk, Magadan, Nakhodka Vostochny Port, Nevelsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vanino, Vladivostok

Caspian Sea

Astrakhan, Makhachkala.

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Merchant marine


total: 695 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,920,923 GRT/4,867,676 metric tons deadweight (DWT)
ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 19, cargo 379, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 21, combination ore/oil 3, container 25, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 35, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 149, refrigerated cargo 26, roll-on/roll-off 22, short-sea passenger 7 (1999 est.)

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Airports

Total airports: 2,743 (2002)

Airports with paved runways


total: 630
over 3,047 m: 54
2,438 to 3,047 m: 202
1,524 to 2,437 m: 108
914 to 1,523 m: 115
under 914 m: 151 (1994 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways


total: 1,887
over 3,047 m: 25
2,438 to 3,047 m: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 134
914 to 1,523 m: 291
under 914 m: 1,392 (1994 est.)

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References

  1. ^ Railway line length of various countries (Russian)
  2. ^ Freight by electric railroad 2008 (Russian)
  3. ^ Gov't transport statistics
  4. ^ Lenta.RU News "РЖД попросила правительство заняться спасением железных дорог" (Russian) (RZhD asks government to rescue the railroad)
  5. ^ Table 2.28. ПЕРЕВОЗКИ ПАССАЖИРОВ И ПАССАЖИРООБОРОТ ЖЕЛЕЗНОДОРОЖНОГО ТРАНСПОРТА ОБЩЕГО ПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ; TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS AND PASSENGER TURNOVER OF PUBLIС RAILWAY TRANSPORT Основные показатели транспортной деятельности в России - 2008 г. Copyright © Федеральная служба государственной статистики
  6. ^ Table 2.25. ПЕРЕВОЗКИ ГРУЗОВ И ГРУЗООБОРОТ ЖЕЛЕЗНОДОРОЖНОГО ТРАНСПОРТА ОБЩЕГО ПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ TRANSPORTATION OF CARGO AND FREIGHT TURNOVER OF PUBLIC RAILWAY TRANSPORT Основные показатели транспортной деятельности в России - 2008 г. Copyright © Федеральная служба государственной статистики
  7. ^ Rosstat statistics on length of roads Retrieved on 10 June 2009
  8. ^ a b "Transport in Russia". International Transport Statistics Database. iRAP. Retrieved 17 February 2009. 
  9. ^ Damon Lavring (15 February 2013). "Why Almost Everyone in Russia Has a Dash Cam". Wired. 
  10. ^ Морская коллегия: Речной транспорт (Maritime Board: River Transport) (Russian)
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External links

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Last modified on 9 May 2013, at 18:14