Russia resumes railway services via Ukraine due to failure of new bypassing track

Ukrainian Member of Parliament, coordinator of the Information Resistance analytical group Dmytro Tymchuk says Russia has resumed railway services through Ukraine, as the newly built railroad line bypassing Ukraine has failed.

He recalled that in the summer of 2017 all Russian media were trumpeting about a "big achievement." To build a new 137-km long track, Moscow engaged even the railway troops of the Russian Armed Forces. In August 2017, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu even awarded the 39th railway brigade with the Order of Zhukov for the "outstanding" achievements in the construction of the new railroad line.

Read alsoAll Russian trains to bypass Ukraine starting Dec 11"The irony is that after all these bravura reports by the Russians and the solemn launch of trains 'bypassing Ukraine,' it turned out as of February 2018 that Russian trains... had returned to the 'old' railroad line. Thus, as was the case before, they are running via Ukraine," Tymchuk wrote on Facebook.

According to the Information Resistance analytical group, "traditionally low-skilled Russian troops" together with corrupt figures from Russian Railways built a new, non-operational railroad line.

Read alsoRussia launches railroad bypassing Ukraine (Map)"In particular, shortly after the official launch, it was found out that the drainage systems were faulty, while the railway track sank by one meter down. The cause behind this is the lack of technology in laying the track due to the extremely high pace of the construction and corrupt 'cost savings,' as well as the lack of adjacent infrastructure near the tracks (it remained only on paper), which led to subsidence. According to the railway workers, the situation will only deteriorate in spring due to snowmelt flood," Tymchuk added.

Russian Railways plans to fix the "new" railroad line before June 2018.

As UNIAN reported, JSC Russian Railways from December 11, 2017, transferred all trains running southward to the newly built Zhuravka-Millerovo railroad line, bypassing Ukraine. The company said then that passenger trains would no longer run along the old railroad across Ukrainian territory.

On November 15, 2017, Russian Railways launched the first passenger trains along the railroad bypassing Ukraine.

According to the project, the highest speed of passenger trains was set at 140 kilometers per hour. The cost of the Zhuravka-Millerovo railroad construction was estimated at about RUB 56 billion.

Prior to that, trains bound for the south of Russia had been running through the Ukrainian territory. The new railway track runs entirely through the territory of Russia (across Voronezh and Rostov regions).