- Title: Celebrations in Crimea greet first train to use rail route from Russia
- Date: 25th December 2019
- Summary: SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA (DECEMBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FIRST TRAIN FROM RUSSIA TO CRIMEA ARRIVING AT RAILWAY STATION / PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS, WAVING FLAGS AND FLOWERS ON PLATFORM TRAIN ARRIVING PEOPLE SEEN THROUGH TRAIN WINDOW BETWEEN SIMFEROPOL AND SEVASTOPOL, CRIMEA (DECEMBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN TRAIN CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) TRAIN PASSENGER FROM CRIMEA, YEVGENIYA KHULAPA, SAYING: "Before the trip, I was nervous. During the first day of the ride, the view from the windows and the sense of the historic importance of the moment gave me goosebumps." PATCH ON KHULAPA'S JACKET READING (Russian): "STUDENT WORK TEAMS OF OREL REGION" (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) TRAIN PASSENGER FROM CRIMEA, YEVGENIYA KHULAPA, SAYING: "This (arrival) is something everyone was awaiting while not sleeping until two in the morning to see and feel this." VARIOUS OF TEA GLASS HOLDER ON TABLE WITH PICTURE OF TRAIN GOING OVER CRIMEAN BRIDGE, TITLE READING (Russian): "TAVRIA" VARIOUS OF TRAIN PASSENGER, TATIANA VORONA, TAKING SELFIE WITH GLASS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) TRAIN PASSENGER FROM CRIMEA, TATIANA VORONA, SAYING: "First of all, I have not ridden trains for a long time, so I wanted to. Secondly, the first train will always be the only one so I could not miss this opportunity." VIEW OF LANDSCAPE FROM WINDOW (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) TRAIN PASSENGER, LIDIA ANDREEVA, SAYING: "I wanted to be the first (to feel) this celebration together with the whole country, because everyone is excited about this newly-opened route, about the achievements of our country." SEVASTOPOL, CRIMEA (DECEMBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONDUCTOR OPENING DOOR VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS GETTING OUT OF TRAIN / PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS, GATHERING ON PLATFORM WOMAN WELCOMING PASSENGERS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) TRAIN PASSENGER FROM RUSSIA, NADEZHDA KOZLOVA, SAYING: "I'm very happy to meet my loved ones, I'm happy for the residents of Sevastopol, to whom we brought joy, happiness, creativity, and filled this space with beauty and love."
- Embargoed: 8th January 2020 13:17
- Keywords: Crimea bridge Crimea pennisula Crimea rail link Crimea train Russia-Ukraine annexation of Crimea first train from Russia to Crimea
- Location: SIMFEROPOL, BETWEEN SIMFEROPOL AND SEVASTOPOL, SEVASTOPOL AND KERCH, CRIMEA
- City: SIMFEROPOL, BETWEEN SIMFEROPOL AND SEVASTOPOL, SEVASTOPOL AND KERCH, CRIMEA
- Country: Crimea
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBH4HTL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The first passengers of a rail route linking Russia's two biggest cities to Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, arrived to celebrations at Sevastopol's train station on Wednesday (December 25).
Passengers said they were excited to be the first to arrive from Russia to Crimea on the train, and were also pleased by the warm welcome which featured singing and dancing on the platform.
The train started in St Petersburg on Monday (December 23) and used a road and rail bridge which Russian engineers built to link Crimea to southern Russia after an earlier pre-annexation route which ran through Ukraine was shut down.
Construction of the bridge, which is 19 km (11.8 miles) long, was opposed by Ukraine which says it wants the Black Sea peninsula back. The Kremlin has ruled out returning Crimea.
The bridge, likely to be viewed as an important part of Putin's legacy, was designed to integrate Crimea into Russia's economy and to end its relative isolation by allowing Russia to supply it by road and rail as well as by sea and air.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the new rail route would carry around 14 million passengers and about 13 million tonnes of freight next year as he inaugurated the start of the passenger route.
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