Moscow from the second floor

The city authorities are thinking about updating the bus fleet

Moscow officials yesterday unexpectedly refuted the established opinion that of all the world's capitals, London is closest to them. Residents of the mayor's office on Tverskaya, watching with undisguised interest the local mayor Ken Livingston, who is distinguished not only by strong words, but also by decisive actions and who was not afraid, for example, to introduce a fee for the entry of private cars into the center of the British capital, suddenly demonstrated that they do not approve of his recent the decision to abandon double-decker buses - the legendary “double deckers”. It turns out that Moscow, which does not have such a rich history of double-decker public transport, but has low-hanging trolleybus wires on the streets and a lot of low bridges, is today seriously studying the possibilities of updating its bus fleet. And as the head of the Municipal Services Complex, Pyotr Aksenov, admitted yesterday, the views of officials are directed precisely towards tall and roomy buses. “We are studying a proposal to buy double-decker Neoplan buses for Moscow for use on urban public transport routes,” Mr. Aksenov said.

Despite the fact that no serious calculations have been made yet, it is known that Moscow will definitely get one bus for free. True, not a “Neoplan”, but the same red “double decker” from the Routemaster company - Mr. Livingston promised to give it to the Russian capital during Yuri Luzhkov’s January visit to the “Russian Winter” festival in London. The London mayor himself was forced to abandon double-decker buses in December 2005 under pressure from the public organization Transport for All, which defends the rights of disabled passengers, elderly Britons and young mothers with strollers. For them, the bus with a conductor on the step, created back in the 60s, is not very convenient. Today, "double deckers" carry mainly tourists around London from Trafalgar Square to Tower Bridge and from the Royal Albert Hall along the Strand to Alditch - an area of ​​musical theaters and stately imperial buildings. On other routes used by Londoners, more modern and comfortable transport operates.

The fact that the Moscow City Hall, which today mainly purchases buses from the Tushinsky and Likinsky Automobile Plants, has its eye on the modern products of the German concern MAN, also indicates a desire to provide passengers with comfort. Although, first of all, officials still evaluate the internal volume of these machines. “Neoplans are shorter than the articulated Ikarus that are familiar to Muscovites, but due to the second floor they exceed them in capacity,” says Pyotr Aksenov.

It is possible, however, that it will not be possible to seriously displace the clumsy Ikarus, assembled in the capital itself, by the maneuverable and capacious Neoplans due to the high cost of the latter. Nikolai Mishin, a representative of the Moscow office of MAN Automobiles Russia, told ITAR-TASS yesterday that the cost of one car is “approximately 300 thousand euros.” In addition, additional costs will be required for their certification for Russia, since previously such buses were not officially supplied to our country. Nevertheless, inspired by the prospect of such a large-scale order, representatives of MAN assure that the deal can be prepared in a year - if the Moscow mayor’s office wishes.

Fedor SEREBRYANSKY