Wait, steam locomotive ...

In the project of the Moscow -Kazan high -speed highway, the rails came together with a wedge

Citizens are departing, leave the platform along with citizens escorting. There is no high -speed train Moscow -Kazan in the schedule. And until it is expected. The President of Russia doubted the need to build a high -speed highway (VSM), which he himself announced in May 2013 about the laying plans.

Then, in the conference-old man of our Motherland, the city of Sochi, a certain meeting on the prospects of railway transport was held. We were not invited there, and we can only fantasize about how the president’s proposal was met. As soon as the applause subsided, there was probably a quiet voice from the place: “So this is a carriage of money! And we still have a bridge in the Crimea to build! " - “What Crimea? - Probably the president has launched. - What is the year now? 2013? Not 2014! Do not run ahead of the steam locomotive! "

In 2013, it was also believed that the earth was flat. And on a flat surface, laying paths is a pleasure. And the project was met by departing and enthusiastic with enthusiasm. Just think - three and a half hours from Moscow to Kazan. As soon as you burden in the crossword puzzle, barely think - “A river flowing into the Caspian Sea. Five letters, the first “B”, the last “A”. Vyatka, or what? Or Visla? How this river of five letters is already flickering outside the window. Potential passengers were sincerely interested in: “Is it possible to stretch the rails to the Naberezhnye Chelny, but is it possible to the village of old Afonkino? ..”

Then the public hearings went. And it turned out that the VSM project is associated with a lot of problems even for those who are not going anywhere. But will they demolish my cottage when laying the path? Or will the rails pass between my two apple trees, and this shaitan arb will shake them to the last apple? Ecologists and zoo defenders were excited. At the hearings in the city of Zelenodolsk (40 kilometers from Kazan), the designers announced that 29 kilometers of the highway would pass through the territory of the Zelenodolsky district, for which 150 thousand trees would have to be cut down. "At the same time, not a single bird will die!" -assured the audience of the arrived specialist of the design and survey institute Mosgiprotrans.

Apparently, it was assumed that the cutting of trees would be arranged as renovation, and birds, along with caterpillars and beetles-bones, will be relocated within the area from old nests to comfortable housing.

Five years have passed. The gasket of the VSM still has not begun. During this time, a couple of cost wars occurred, and the ruble fell and hurt. It was found that the Earth was still round, and this complicates the construction and leads to the rise in the cost of the project. Money for the VSM, they calculated, you will need two wagons. Due to the fact that Crimea showed perseverance and still joined, possible Western investors came across sanctions. Possible investors from China set a condition: they want to use their technology and their labor. And we ourselves know how to score crutches with sledgehammer and in general, if necessary, we add to anyone.

No, our president did not refuse VSM for good. He asks him to be proved to be the validity of costs. You have to know if all these rails, sleepers, cottages, trees and birds will ever pay off. And it would be nice to find out which Russian does not like fast driving and whether he will find money to pay the estimated fare.