JUNK TRAM

REGIONS

The deputies of the Saratov Duma decided to ride the tram. They did not dare to sit in the same car with the electorate. To familiarize themselves with the transport economy, the parliamentarians were driven by a freshly repaired train, the youngest in the park (eight years old...

The deputies of the Saratov Duma decided to ride the tram. They did not dare to sit in the same car with the electorate. To familiarize themselves with the transport economy, the parliamentarians were brought in by a freshly repaired train, the youngest in the park (eight years of service, two years before retirement).

Extravagant (and taking into account the roads of Saratov, even extreme) the legislators staged an action as part of the preparation of a concept for the development of public transport. According to experts, during peak hours the average speed of movement in the city does not exceed 5-10 kilometers. “In the very near future,” experts concluded, “the street network will be paralyzed.”

The next Duma elections in Saratov are to be held in six months. The deputies begin to get closer to the people in stages: for a warm-up, they examined the dumb mechanisms, while refraining from communicating with the public. “This is what the wheels of a tram look like,” a specially invited professor from the Technical University explained to the guests (the tour started at the repair shop of the central depot).

Eighty percent of Saratov trams and trolleybuses have worked for almost 20 years, twice exceeding the operating standards. The “horned ones” are repaired, according to a university professor, using a unique method: “Nowhere in the world is this done - the most rotten parts of the body are cut out and a new sheet is welded on. Economical, but getting into such a car is unpleasant. A new trolleybus costs 2.8 million rubles, a tram costs 7 million.

The parliamentarians loaded into the blue wagon with childish joy. They touched the seats with their fingers, asked how much the ticket cost. They tried to honk, but the acoustics in the demo copy were prudently turned off.

In the salon, the correspondents were asked to give way to the deputies, and the visiting session of the commission began. The participants found that the streets are congested due to "an uncontrolled increase in the number of personal car trips." How to prohibit citizens from using cars, the parliamentarians did not come up with. To begin with, they decided to expel the Gazelles from the city. Now Saratov residents are served by about 1000 minibuses. During the year, the volume of tram and trolleybus traffic fell by 20 percent, while bus traffic grew by 60 percent. Money is flowing past officials: minivans belong to private firms. According to the parliamentary logic, a passenger deprived of minibuses will transfer to electric transport (if he can), and the municipality will have money for repairs. In total, more than 10 billion rubles are needed for the reconstruction.

... The car braked at the Zhirkombinat stop. The door opened, the pensioners rushed in and fled. The mayor with his retinue got out of the tram and felt the rails with his own hands.