The first Moscow-bound train from Chechnya

The first train in five years from the capital of Chechnya Grozny arrived to Moscow's Pavetsky railroad station June 1 at 11:34 AM MSK.

The platform was crowded: relatives, friends and journalists impatiently anticipated the arrival of the first train from Grozny in five years. According to the head of the communication department of the “Russian Railroads” company Pashkov, “majority of train tickets were purchased in advance.” The train “Grozny-Moscow” has 5 sleeping cars, 5 cars with numbered reserve seats and a dining-car, a total of 350 passenger seats.

The train will travel between Grozny and Moscow twice a week. Total travel time—about 2 days. The train will arrive to Moscow on Tuesdays and Fridays; on Wednesdays and Sundays it will arrive to the Chechen capital. The “Russian Railroads" company also noted that "several law-enforcement officers with specially trained dogs will be aboard the train in the course of the entire ride in order to ensure safety of the passengers.”

Railway transportation with the capital of Chechnya has been interrupted in 1990 after destruction of the main building of the Central train station and damaged railway tracks as a result of military operations in the region. Up until yesterday, the only train that provided transportation from Chechnya to other regions of Russia was the passenger train “Moscow-Gudermes”. In addition, there are also Moscow bound buses that leave from Grozny and Gudermes, reports ITRAR-TASS.