Independent electricity better than reliance on imported vehicle fuel

By Olga Davydova

Belarus is to focus on developing electric-powered public transport, notes Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications, Alexander Shishko, at round table discussion: Prospects for Developing Transport Infrastructure in the City of Minsk

“We’ll be focusing on electric transport in the 2016-2020 programme for public transport development, covering the metro, trolley buses, trams and electric trains. Belarus is building its own nuclear power station, so we’ll be generating our own electricity — while motor fuel is constantly rising in price,” explains Mr. Shishko.

He believes that a major task is the optimisation of the route network, underlining, “The significant funds allocated for the development of public transport infrastructure should be used wisely. We’ll be developing public transport across the Republic’s cities, based on the example of Minsk.”

The Director of state-owned enterprise Capital Transport and Communications, Valery Shkuratov, notes that Minsk will be primarily developing its high-capacity routes. He tells us, “This primarily refers to the metro, with the construction of the third line as a top priority. We also plan to develop trams. Sadly, the process was frozen, for various reasons, but we plan to revive it, focusing at the same time on the development of trolley bus lines.”