REGIONAL STRUCTURE OF LONG-DISTANCE PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION IN RUSSIA (2010-2022)
V.Y.U. Kuzin1, V.L. Martynov2, I.E. Sazonova2
1Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia
2Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia
Keywords: geography of transport, passenger transportation, railways, federal districts, subjects of the Federation
Abstract
We examine the transformation of the regional structure of long-distance passenger transportation in Russia during 2010-2022. This structure was analyzed by using the methodology proposed by these authors for determining the coefficient of passenger railway interaction, similar to the “shift plus share” methodology used in economics, which is, however, an independent one. The Central Federal District occupies a leading position in the country in terms of long-distance passenger traffic, but there this communication is developing in Moscow and those regions of the Federation which are connected to Moscow by high-speed trains that appeared in the 2010s. The Northwestern Federal District ranked next to it for most of the study period by virtue of St. Petersburg, but after 2020 it gave way to the Southern Federal District. In the Southern Federal District, passenger transportation is developing mainly due to Krasnodar krai. The North Caucasus Federal District has extremely low and constantly decreasing passenger traffic figures. The Volga Federal District as a whole is characterized by high rates of long-distance passenger transportation, but their trends are different in different regions of the Federation. The Ural Federal District is characterized by generally high, but steadily declining volumes of long-distance passenger traffic, especially pronounced in its largest regions, Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk oblasts. In the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts, there is also a significant reduction in passenger traffic, with a few exceptions, however: for example, passenger traffic in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has been growing after the construction of the Amur-Yakutsk railway. In general, Russia is characterized by a decrease in the volume and importance of passenger railway transportation, which occurred earlier in other developed countries. Its restoration through high-speed rail transport is possible only in the old-developed densely populated parts of the country, which is already happening.
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