Residents complain of bus disruptions on freezing Chelyabinsk morning
On the frosty morning of Thursday, 22 January, residents of Chelyabinsk complained about transport disruptions and long waits for their routes. The editorial office received reports about the operation of buses No. 64 and No. 4.
The first complaint came from Yulia at 8 a.m.: she spent 10 minutes at the stop near the Alexandrovsky residential complex, got very cold, and eventually left on a minibus with a transfer.
«Not a single bus No. 64 in the entire North-West. Apparently, winter frost has come unexpectedly again,» said Yulia.
A more emotional comment concerns bus No. 4, which connects the city center and the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ).
«Since Monday, bus No. 4 has been running at 30-minute intervals in the morning. Today we stood for 35 minutes and froze, and then barely squeezed in, almost got my ribs broken in the crush. It«s always like this. When it»s freezing — the buses don«t run. Minibuses pass by because they»re full. What are our ministers looking at, or is no one in control of public transport? The minister should stand in -29°C (-20°F) like this. No one thinks about ordinary people,» complained Irina.
We called the dispatch office of the municipal «Traffic Organization Service» (MUP), which is responsible for the operation of these routes. The transportation department told us that all vehicles are operating on the line, but there are indeed delays in movement due to the severe frost.
«Today there are indeed delays of vehicles, this is due to low temperature conditions, we apologize to passengers. Sometimes, brake pads freeze along the way, sometimes the air doesn«t pump,» explained the MUP. «The driver stops, repairs on the go and sets off again, no one leaves the line.»
The city administration«s press service confirmed that all transport was on the line today. On route No. 4, even one additional bus is operating.
