On May 10th, 2013 new stations of the Kazan underground welcome the first passengers

Three new underground stations such as “Yashlek”, “Severniy Vokzal” and “Aviastroitelnaya” will start operating already within a week and a half. According to Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing of the Republic of Tatarstan Irek Faizullin, it is estimated that passenger carriage will start on May 10th, 2013. On May 9th, 2013 the stations will be started in a test mode.

According to the Head of the Ministry of Construction, there is a small amount of work to be completed by May 9th, 2013. As for the land improvement, all work is to be completed by June 1st, 2013. “We must carefully and technically correctly have everything rolled and compacted to avoid the soil failure”, said Irek Faizullin.

As for the trains now there are 8 trains operating and 5 trains have been purchased. “We believe that up to 20 trains will run after putting these stations into operation”, said the Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing of the Republic of Tatarstan. The interval between trains at peak hours will be 4 minutes.

According to Irek Faizullin, the total amount of money invested in the construction of the three stations “Yashlek”, “Severniy Vokzal” and “Aviastroitelnaya”), including trains, tunnels, all structures, landscaping,  etc.,  amounted to 15 billion rubles.

According to Deputy Chief Engineer of Investment and Construction Company “StroiEngineering” Albert Khaliullin, “Severniy Vokzal” Station is the most beautiful one among the three new stations. For example, the entrance hall of the station is equipped by a system of skylights. “They let natural light enter and one has a feeling of being almost outdoors”, said Albert Khaliullin. At the same time, these lights will be used in case of fire.  The installed sensors will activate, transoms of a skylight will open and all smoke will go outdoors.

Talking about the future development of the underground, Irek Faizullin noted that final decisions had not been taken yet. “Documentation for Dubravnaya Station is ready, so we will move in this direction. The final decision will be taken after the passenger traffic has been assessed”, said the Minister.  He also drew attention to the fact that this is a complex task as all forms of public transport should complement each other. The Head of the Ministry of Construction reported that there are plans to build an autowalk from “Kremlyovskaya” Station to the railway station; design work has been already started.