Direct Samara–Kazan train not launched over passenger demand fears

New information has emerged regarding the development of rail communication between Samara and Tatarstan. This was announced on Tuesday at a meeting with journalists by the head of the Kuibyshev Railway (KbzhD), Vyacheslav Dmitriev.

«A train from Tashkent to Kazan via Samara was launched on December 26. We will analyze the passenger traffic. There are concerns that a direct train from Samara to Kazan will not be in demand.»

A train on this route was tried in 2019. But it was not popular with passengers.

«We will analyze the demand now. But the launch of a direct Samara-Kazan train is not planned for 2026,» Vyacheslav Dmitriev said.

A direct train from Samara to Kazan is a project that has been discussed for a long time. A year ago, there was talk of launching a so-called «night express» between the cities. This was reported in January by the head of GZhD, Sergey Dorofeevsky, at an exhibition at Kazan Expo.

Another idea is a direct train from Samara to Ulyanovsk. Last year, it became known under what condition the project could be implemented. Since this route passes through the territory of two constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the implementation of the project must be coordinated by their governments, similar to the Surskaya Strela route from Penza to Saransk.