On 11 February the presidium of the Transport Union of the North-West met. The agenda covered safety at level crossings, the introduction of automatic enforcement cameras for drivers at crossings, and the closure of level crossings where grade-separated junctions are built.
The report was given by Igor Sakovich, deputy head of the October Railway for relations with public authorities. Among the railway’s proposals: regional targeted programmes to equip the most accident-prone crossings with fixed automatic photo and video enforcement systems, and tougher penalties for traffic violations at crossings. Once the grade-separated junctions between road and rail have been completed, it is proposed to close the crossings at kilometre 41 and kilometre 45, and those at Skobelevsky Prospekt, Poklonnogorskaya Street, Pervy Proezd and Lagernoye Shosse.
The second item concerned the handling of freight in the Saint Petersburg rail hub. Mikhail Ivanov, deputy director general of Eurosib SPb-TS, set out the advantages of creating freight-handling hubs beyond the ring road: land inside the city would be freed for more productive use, emissions and noise would fall, and little-used sidings and railway facilities in the central districts could be removed. What is needed is a single centre for organising freight work, which would design logistics schemes for bringing goods in and taking waste out, secure the food supply of the agglomeration and operate the facilities in the freight districts.
The presidium took note of the concept proposed by Eurosib SPb-TS. Those present decided to form a working group to study freight flows and the points that attract heavy goods traffic.