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Statement by Mr. Sergey ANDREEV Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation at the virtual UNECE Informal Multidisciplinary Advisory Group Meeting on Transport Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis June 9, 2020

Statement by

Mr. Sergey ANDREEV

Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department,

Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation 

at the virtual UNECE Informal Multidisciplinary Advisory Group Meeting

on Transport Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis

 

June 9, 2020

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nowadays transport industries of all countries in the world face an unprecedented challenge – the necessity to meet the needs of the economy and society in transport services, as well as to ensure the safety of passengers and transport workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transport must continue to function, because it provides the necessary economic links as well as the need for movement under restrictions.

On 29 May the Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth of Independent States adopted a Statement on the spread of a new coronavirus infection. The document outlines the adoption of joint effective measures to eliminate the threat of COVID-19, as well as the exchange of countries’ experience in implementing preventive measures against pandemics.

Due to the cross-border nature of the transport industry, it is important, firstly, to have reliable and sustainable channels for sharing information on the occurrence of an emergency situation and its impact on the operation of transport, movement of citizens by all modes of transport and the safety of passenger and cargo transportation. Secondly, it is important to inform about the best practices and measures taken by countries.

In this regard, I would like to once again draw your attention to the initiative of the Russian Federation, which was put forward at the 82nd session of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC), and relates to the development of international mechanisms of interaction between transport agencies within the framework of the UNECE, aimed at coordinating measures in emergency situations, affecting a large number of countries.

 

In accordance with the decisions of the Committee we propose to discuss this issue in detail at WP.5 under the relevant item of the agenda. We call on other participants to discuss this issue in detail.

In line with our initiative, I would like to inform you about the measures, taken in the Russian Federation in this area.

Taking into account the current situation, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation in cooperation with other federal authorities has developed and approved a list of requirements to ensure safe transport operations, providing sanitary-epidemiological and biomedical protection of personnel, infrastructure and passengers.

These requirements provide measures which, on the one hand, ensure the unconditional safety of personnel and passengers, give them a sense of security, during the trip, and on the other hand, minimize the additional financial burden on carriers.

Requirements for wearing gloves and masks have been inroduced for all modes of transport. Also, in order to minimize the possibility of infection transmission during movement in cities, requirements for disinfection of rolling stock have been put in place. Targeted measures have been defined for each type of transport.

Various measures have been taken to reduce the number of contacts in international freight transport at all stages of the transportation. For the purpose of carrying out continuous schedule of international and inter-regional cargo road transportation, drivers after completion the trip shall be subject to self-isolation only before departure for another one.

At the same time, we consider it important to focus on the ability of rail transport to provide minimum contacts in international traffic, while having comparable characteristics in other parameters.

In this regard, the Ministry of Transport of Russian Federation introduced an initiative on the widest possible use of rail transport for international and transit traffic. Relevant proposals were circulated to partner states. Member States of the ITF were also informed about this initiative.

I would like to note that in the course of railway transportation the UIC developments are used. They relate to the observance of social distance at the railway infrastructure facilities and its disinfection, individual protection means, control over the health condition of employees, safe distribution of passenger flows, etc.

In the context of urbanization it is important to resist the spread of the epidemic through urban transport. I would like to highlight the following measures, taken in Moscow in this regard:

- introducing of social distance in public transport;

- disinfection of transport infrastructure objects and vehicles (daily or several times a day);

- the automated permit system was introduced in Moscow to reduce the spread of the disease. It helps to prevent the violation of the social distancing rules;

- sales of masks and gloves have been organized at metro and bus stations. Each passenger must wear it during movement in public transport. Also metro stations have been equipped with hand sanitizers;

- an extensive campaign on transport is being carried out to inform passengers about the danger of COVID-19: video clips, recommendation posters and audio information are provided, social distance is marked.

Summing up, I would like to stress that we are all interested in a substantive and meaningful dialogue with other countries.

I thank all participants and the Secretariat for today's discussion and look forward to its constructive continuation in September.

Thank you for your attention.


6/10/20 statements and speeches trade and economic main transport