To Johann Strauss in Pavlovsk by Magnetic Levitation Line?

27.08.2009 (14:55)

The initiative to build a 37-kilometer long magnetic levitation railway line in a single complex with the reconstruction of the musical railway station in Pavlovsk is being developed in St-Petersburg. So far, only representatives of science and culture are among its supporters. But they are waiting and actively inviting politicians and, certainly, businessmen to be Patrons of the Arts for this project and to manage it. This project is both an innovative, technical, cultural and commercial venture.

An Outdoor Session of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences took place in Pavlovsk a few days ago, which was chaired by Academician Yanush Danilevich. It considered the problem "Electrophysics, Electric Power Industry and Electrical Engineering" and was dedicated to the creation of the Tsar’s Village Magnetic Levitation Project. The co-chairman of the session was Anatoly Zaitsev, Doctor of Economic Sciences and Deputy of the Leningrad Oblast Legislative Assembly. Mr Zaitsev delivered the main report.

Invited representatives from public organisations learnt about the initiative to revive Pavlovsk Musical Railway Station, which was completely destroyed during the war, and to carry out its reconstruction in a single complex with the first Russian 37 km long maglev road from St.-Petersburg (Public and Business Centre "Gazprom-City") to Pavlovsk through Pulkovo airport and Pushkin. It is supposed that this project will be integrated into the General Plan for the Development of St.-Petersburg and then will be realised from 2010 to 2015 by a private companies consortium led by OAO "National High-Speed Roads", and that the mechanism of a Public-Private Partnership will be applied in order to obtain partial Federal and Regional financing. Initiators of the project consider that the line, which is to be created on the basis of the newest transport technologies, can be used later as a model for further construction of such lines on routes from Moscow to St-Petersburg and from Moscow to the South.

It is planned that the recreated Pavlovsk Musical Railway Station will become a multi-functional cultural and entertainment centre for festivals, concerts, balls, congresses, etc. The total cost of construction of the station will be 5 billion roubles, and the maglev road will cost 20 billion roubles.

Academician Yanush Danilevich says he believes this project will be successful. He has also plans to involve business circles in Germany and Austria in its realisation who are interested in maintaining the cultural traditions connected with the name of Johann Strauss.

Among the project initiators is Senior Scientist, Professor Jury Antonov, from the Chemical Silicates Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He declared that a Laboratory of Chemical Power and Ecology has been created in their Institute, where fundamental and applied research is carried out under the guidance of Mr Danilevich in order to develop the linear traction engine and levitation systems. "The intensive integration of the newest achievements in the field of energy transformation, in the energy sector in industry and transport will promote new quality of developments in transport. Maglev transport is the most innovative and has the best future when the whole range of its advantages is considered," emphasized Mr Antonov.

The project of the new line is also actively supported by the management of the State Museum-Reserve "Pavlovsk". Deputy Director Victor Rozov, for example, noted that when the well-known Seasons started at the Pavlovsk Musical Railway Station, it was together with the active development of the railway, the new type of transport at that time. "It would be quite proper today, if when we are restoring the precious cultural traditions of our national history, we would again link it with the creation of the newest transport system. Thus a new line from St-Petersburg to Pavlovsk would attract a lot of visitors to the Musical Railway Station, and generally would raise the process of solving this question to a new level of technical achievement," emphasized Victor Rozov.

It is also remarkable that even ecologists, who are always the most probable opponents of such initiatives, look like they are going to support this project. Thus, Vladimir Sysuyev, the Director of the Northwestern Branch of the All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute for Nature Protection, declares that he generally likes it because, in his opinion, among its advantages is the fact that the whole line will go by specially elevated route. At the same time this ecologist noted that the main problem of all infrastructural sites these days is their normative insufficiency. "It is necessary to organize ecological support of this project from its very first steps, so that ecologists worked together with designers, instead of postponing nature protection questions to the future. In this case, I think, this business will be successful. Our institute is ready to cooperate," announced Vladimir Sysuyev.

One of the main initiators of this project, Anatoly Zajtsev, (a previous Head of Octoyabrskaya Railway and Minister of Railways in the Russian Federation), noted that the legislative initiative is currently being introduced to the St-Petersburg Legislative Assembly, and the consortium is being created on the basis of OAO "National High-Speed Roads" set up in 2005.

"Today we have set the following targets: first - to persuade public opinion of the necessity of creating a modern railway mainline in St-Petersburg for mass passenger flows; second - to convince the St-Petersburg Government and Mrs Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko personally to make the necessary decisions; and third - to invite interested parties into the consortium," stated Anatoly Zajtsev.

The following issues were also entered in the list of decisions of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Scientific Council’s Outdoor Assembly - to suggest to the St-Petersburg Government that they should organize a seminar where the developers of the systems "Maglev" (Japan) and "Transrapid" (Germany) would participate in order to choose the most suitable system for The Tsar’s Village Railroad; to apply to the Managers of the OAO "Public and Business Centre "Okhta" to organize public hearings to solve the transport problems raised by the construction of the "Gazprom-City" complex; to organize cooperation between participants in all programs connected with the Pavlovsk Musical Railway Station reconstruction project; and to join the international organization Spring Gardens, etc.

We would like to remind readers that the question "About the Introduction of Magnetic Levitation Technologies in Russian Transport Systems" was already considered and approved on February 17th 2009 by the Industrial Committee of the Federation Council (whose Chairman is Valentin Zavadnikov), and on June 10th the First Session of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Council took place in the House of Scientists in St-Petersburg, with the theme "The Tsar’s Village Magnetic Levitation Line and Pavlovsk Musical Railway Station".

Andrey Guryev
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