EBRD FEATURE STORY
Russian Trams Cut Pollution, Improve
Transport
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It was over 100 years ago, when Krasnodar was
still called Ekaterinodar (gift from Catherine) that the city’s first tram
hit the rails. That one was horse drawn and made in Belgium. Since then the
trams have only stopped running once – for six months during the Second World
War. “They are the face of the city,” says Vladimir Voronkin, Deputy Mayor. ”We
could stop anything, but not the trams. The people wouldn’t have it!” Unfortunately for the people, the 300 trams
running in Krasnodar are now at least 20 years old, many of them lacking
basic comfort and safety features; 15 per cent of them at any one time are in
the shop being repaired. This is why the EBRD is investing €10.4
million in helping the Krasnodar Tram and Trolleybus Company buy 50 brand new
trams to serve the city’s 800,000-strong population, 90 per cent of whom use
the trams. Transport is hugely important to Krasnodar, a hub city on the
Kuban river less than 150 kilometers from both the Black and the Azov seas.
The tram and trolleybus systems alone employ over 3,500 people. One-third less power needed “The new trams use 30 per cent less
electricity and they are much more comfortable, with much better conditions
for the drivers,” says Anatoly Panin. He has been Director of the
municipally-owned Krasnodar Public Transport Company for 17 years. Mr Panin practically bounces with enthusiasm
for the new trams, using the diminutive tramvaichiki to refer to them.
“Look at this beauty,” he says, showing off one of two new trams already
delivered from a supplier in Siberia, far away on the other side of the
Urals. “We bought Russian ones in the end because we
already know the technology and I can work with the suppliers who are like a
family to me. There’s no formality. I asked them to deliver early for
Krasnodar’s birthday (a public holiday with parties, performances and
fireworks) and it was no problem,” he says, leaning out of his car window to
loudly chastise a tram driver who was smoking on the job. Easing pollution Catherine the Great gave Krasnodar to the
Cossacks in 1793 in return for border protection. She’d hardly recognise it
now. “Look. What do you think my average speed would be in the car?” ask Mr
Panin. The traffic congestion in central Krasnodar is appalling, the air
full of choking fumes, thousands of cars virtually stationary and blocking
all the main thoroughfares. “It’s eight kilometers an hour. Eight! And look
at that tram!” A tram obligingly hurtles past on its gleaming rails. “Average
17 kilometers an hour. There’s no competition.” The idea behind the new tram project is to
encourage people to get back on to public transport and away from their
cars. Russia’s public transport system as a whole carries around 37
billion passengers a year and it has 72 cities with tram networks, more than
any other country. In Krasnodar alone, electric transport (trams
and trolleybuses) have a 62 per cent market share and, at six roubles, less
than one Euro, per journey, Mr Panin considers them to be a bargain.
“Virtually free!” The company makes €2 million a month in fares and another
million in advertising on the sides of trams and banners strung above the
streets. Happy birthday, dear town The two brand new trams were rolled into
action for the city’s birthday parade on September 26, 2006. One wore a
banner on the front, saying; ‘Happy Birthday, Dear Town!’ The new trams’
capacity is the same as that of the old – 35 people seated, 125 standing. “I
reckon people are going to be looking forward to going to work on these.
They’ll all be talking about it on Monday, saying; ‘Which one did you get
on?”’ Mr Panin laughs. Lilya Kachinovskaya, who has driven
Krasnodar’s trams for 20 years, is practising driving with the new controls.
She will be driving this one on an 8am-to-10pm shifts. “I love this, it’s so
much easier to drive and so comfy,” she grins. The fleet of new trams would not have been
possible without the EBRD’s investment. “There is a warm friendly atmosphere
between ourselves and the bank,’ says Mr Voronkin, the Deputy Mayor who is in
charge of the city’s transport. “We have been getting to know them for four
years, trying to come up with exactly the right project. There is a lot of
goodwill. Our town is definitely attracting European businesses and our
relationship with the EBRD is obviously helping that to happen. It is perfect
for us as their long-term credit system is well-geared to our needs as a
public administration.’” Donor funding totaling €610,000 was provided
by Austria, the European Union and Germany to assist the city transport
company with its pre-loan investment plan, restructuring
and procurement. Back at the tram park, Mr Panin is inspecting
the transport workshop where mechanics beaver away repairing the old rolling
stock. Next to the workshop is a notice board where photographs of the
month’s best workers are posted, a still-used and endearing vestige of the
Soviet era. “I aim to have 100 per cent of my trams working 100 per cent of
the time,” he says. “I’d rather have fewer trams than have 300 trams, like
now, with so many of them in the workshop.” Now, at last, his goal of
reliable transport is on its way to being realized. By Anna Blundy, EBRD Communications Consultant |
On-line version available at: http://www.ebrd.com/new/stories/2006/061110.htm