Owner Sochi City council Transit type Light Metro Number of stations 24 | Locale Russia, Sochi Number of lines 3 Operation will start never | |
Sochi Light Metro was a planned public transportation system in Sochi, Russia, with an intended completion date of 2013. The system was intended to be used during the 2014 Winter Olympics. The plans for the light metro were abandoned in favor of the reconstruction of the railway.
History
According to a press release of Sochi Olympics, a light rail system was originally proposed which would span 36 km, but eventually a Russian-style light metro system was chosen instead. After Moscow's Butovskaya Line and Saint Petersburg's Nadzemny Express, the Sochi Light Metro would have been Russia's third light metro, among 11 Russian rail rapid transit systems altogether.
Due to a crisis, the project was changed from a light metro to a scaled-down commuter-style railway called the Sochi Aeroexpress. The line will connect the airport with Krasnaya Polyana with an intermediate stop in Adler. The abbreviated version will include a 2.8 km tunnel.
The estimated construction budget is $758,8 million. Original plans for the system were the building of three interconnected lines, with a total of 86.4 km of track and 24 stations running in a mixture of underground, mountain tunnels, elevated, and at-grade construction:
In December 2008 RZD announced it would be tendering for 54 dual voltage (AC and DC), 160 km/h (99 mph) trains with capacities of about 1000 passengers for use in southern Russia, and for use during the Sochi Olympics. In February 2009 Bombardier Transportation was reported as the winner with its «Spacium» train design. In December 2009 the formal contract for 54 trains (valued $598 million) was signed with Siemens. Siemens designates the train type Desiro RUS, the trains have been named Ласточка (Lastochka, Swallow).
A news report of January 27, 2012 by Rail.co website (United Kingdom) stated that the rail link between Adler and the Sochi International Airport will be operational later that year.
As of December 31, 2013, the scaled-down version of the system, the Sochi Aeroexpress, is in operation, on a route between Sochi and the Sochi International Airport with a stop in Adler.