The epic saga of constructing the metro through the Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge may stretch across generations
Recently, there has been an increasing discussion within the capital's transportation expert community about the idea of building a rapid tram line that would connect the residential area of Troieshchyna with Podil and even the Central Railway Station via the Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge, instead of a metro line.
Kashtan NEWS investigated how feasible this idea is.
Background of the issue
The idea of constructing a rapid tram line to Troieshchyna is not new; it has been around for quite some time. However, it gained more serious attention and development in 2015-2016 in a report by the World Bank on reforming Kyiv's transport network.
1 Roman Shukhevych. Photo: Wikipedia In this document, recalls Vyacheslav Skryl, a specialist from the Public Organization "Passengers of Kyiv," there were discussions about changes to trolleybus, bus, and tram routes, as well as the overall road network of the capital. Thanks to this report, initial shifts occurred in the city's transport system: convenient low-floor and long buses, trolleybuses, and trams began to operate on passenger routes, and some major routes were extended.
At the same time, one scenario in the report proposed constructing a tram line on the Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge, with its further expansion towards the largest residential area of the capital, Troieshchyna. Passenger flows that the city's transport providers would need to address were also identified and calculated.
The cost of the idea
If we set aside emotions and rose-colored glasses, it becomes quite clear that extending a rapid tram line to Troieshchyna instead of the blue metro carriages would be both faster and cheaper.
Vyacheslav Skryl explains the essence of the idea: constructing a kilometer of tram line is significantly cheaper than extending a metro branch toward the Troieshchyna residential area. According to experts, this could reduce costs by 8-10 times.
2 According to the "Passengers of Kyiv," the cost of building tram connections would amount to nearly 3 billion UAH from the city budget and could take between 3 to 5 years. In contrast, laying the metro in that direction would cost at least 70 billion UAH, including the purchase of rolling stock, and would take at least 10-15 years, considering the lack of funds, inflation, potential misappropriation of money, and other unforeseen negative factors that may arise along the path to the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Mitigating" circumstances
The presence of a tram depot on the right bank, as well as the existing tram network within the Troieshchyna area, supports the case for laying rapid tram tracks to Troieshchyna.
Moreover, specialists note that on the opposite bank of the city, there is the Podil tram network. It will need reconstruction, of course, but this is significantly simpler than designing and building everything from scratch. Additionally, the Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge is technically suitable for tram operations.
For the final realization of the idea, it will be necessary to connect the tram to the bridge level on both banks of the Dnipro River by constructing appropriate interchanges. By the way, the report also suggested how to create such overpasses.
"That’s precisely why, since much is already in place for launching the tram across the Dnipro, the proposal for 'tramization' of Troieshchyna has emerged," the NGO stated.
3 Where to get the rolling stock
While the construction of the tram line is ongoing, the specialist explains that the issue of rolling stock could be addressed in parallel. The existing trams are not entirely suitable for this operation. Therefore, additional rolling stock needs to be purchased, which involves tender procedures, orders, and waiting time for production from Ukrainian or foreign manufacturers. The used equipment being transferred to us by foreign partners may not be entirely appropriate either; it must be adapted to Ukrainian standards. While there are cities in Ukraine where the tracks are adapted to European standards, such as Vinnytsia and Lviv, the main network in Europe has tracks wider than 1400 mm, whereas ours is over 1500 mm. Consequently, trams that arrived from the European Union to Kyiv had to be re-equipped with wheelsets from older vehicles. However, if there is a need to increase the number of rolling stock, there may simply not be enough spare parts. At the same time, longer trams will be necessary to accommodate more passengers.
"Bolts" on the tracks
However, as the "Passengers of Kyiv" believe, the lack of willingness from the leadership of the Kyiv City State Administration, the Department of Transport Infrastructure of the KSCA, and partly from the Kyiv City Council to understand such a strategy for the development of passenger transportation "puts foreign objects" on the tram tracks and hinders the implementation of the rapid tram construction idea.
"This attitude can only be explained by the unprofessionalism and shortsightedness of the management," the interlocutor is convinced.
4 Nevertheless, even considering all the problems, the rapid tram is likely to be operational sooner than the metro. After all, constructing a metro line is difficult and time-consuming; currently, there are no companies in Ukraine capable of carrying out such large-scale work. If we assume that work will start actively, at least 10 years will be needed just for laying the routes. And this is only the time required for technical tasks.
"Moreover, there must be funds for this, which is currently problematic to find. Thus, Kyiv simply won't have enough money to build it," summarizes Vyacheslav Skryl.
Kyiv residents are not standing on the sidelines
While the "higher-ups" deliberate or pretend to, Kyiv residents are creating petitions urging the city government to halt the metro construction to Troieshchyna and start building the rapid tram line.
5 Furthermore, residents of the legendary residential area propose initiating a tram route via the new bridge that would run from Starovokzalna Street to Perova Boulevard (near the "Lukyanivska" metro station, along Podil, close to the "Troieshchyna-2" city electric train station, and further through Troieshchyna along Balzac Street). After the reconstruction of Dmytrivska and Hlibovytska Streets, trams will be able to easily cover the distance from the end of Troieshchyna to the Central Railway Station.
At the same time, city dwellers are urging the city administration to reconstruct the existing stations and infrastructure of the rapid tram in Troieshchyna, to separate the tram line from road traffic with traffic lights and crossings to prioritize the tram on the road.
Yevhen DEM’YANOV