In five years, if no measures are taken, the Moscow metro will have the same traffic jams as on the city streets. This statement was made by the head of the Moscow metro, Dmitry Gaev, speaking at a meeting in the Federation Council dedicated to the development of the Moscow metro.

According to him, underfunding of the metro is a serious problem. The metro is the main means of transport in the city; it serves more than 9 million people daily, which is about 60% of the total volume of all city traffic, D. Gaev noted.

At the same time, an extremely tense situation has developed in Moscow with regard to transport services for the population, caused by a significant lag in the pace of construction of new metro lines from the needs of the city. The backlog in the commissioning of lines today, according to D. Gaev, is more than 120 kilometers and continues to grow every year.

He recalled that in the 2005 budget, 978.3 million rubles were allocated for the development of metro construction in Moscow, which is only 5.76% of the technologically justified need.

D. Gaev also cited data from the Rosstroi commission, which determined the technologically justified need for funds for the development of metro construction in Moscow for 2006 in the amount of 20 billion 981.5 million rubles, for 2007 and 2008, respectively, 27 billion 975.1 million rubles and 33 billion 330.2 million rubles.

It should be noted that Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov proposed returning to the scheme of financing subways from the federal and local budgets in a 50/50 ratio. He stated this today, speaking at a meeting in the Federation Council dedicated to the development of the Moscow metro.

S. Mironov clarified that this financing scheme was in effect until 2001, and currently funding for the development of subways is carried out in a ratio of 80 to 20, with the share of the federal budget being 20%. S. Mironov also emphasized that it is for the development of subways that the funds from the Stabilization Fund should be directed, since in this case there are ready-made investment projects.

According to the head of the Federation Council, unfortunately, the Moscow metro, due to insufficient funding, “often no longer provides either speed or comfort.” “Without the development of the Moscow metro, including beyond the Moscow Ring Road, we will not see anything promising,” he noted. S. Mironov added that the Moscow metro is also “a special object of urban culture, an asset that needs to be preserved and developed.”

D. Gaev: The metro will soon have the same traffic jams as on the streets