Air passengers who refuse to brave the queues of traffic or slow transport links to Sheremetyevo now have cause to reconsider. Starting from June 11 a new express train will carry passengers from Moscow's Savyolovsky station to Sheremetyevo airport in 35 minutes. The new link is part of a project to link all of Moscow's airports under a single transport operator.

"People will no longer have to waste precious time and money on the road, relying on taxis and private drivers who charge unfair sums of money," Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said at the official opening Tuesday. "13.5 trillion rubles are to be spent on this transport project until 2015, private capital is interested and wants to invest. The new train is a vivid demonstration of that," he said at a press conference after the ceremony.

The new train will make getting to the state-run airport much easier and Sheremetyevo has cause to hope that the improved accessibility will woo airlines and passengers back from Domodedovo, where major airlines have been deserting to in droves since 2000. Lufthansa, British Airways and Iberia are just a few that have gone to the hitherto easier to reach, privately managed airport.

A spokesperson for Domodeovo told The Moscow News that the uncertainty surrounding the construction of Sheremetyevo's Ter­minal 3 is a possible factor for losing clients. Ivanov's comments may offer some encouragement and promise of stability to the situation.

Aeroexpress, one of the joint operators of the new rail link and the proposed single transport system announced that it plans "a merger of all stations of Moscow into a complex transport system, under the management of a single operator. In May 2008 Aeroexpress won the rights to transport passengers to Vnukovo airport." The unification of Moscow's three major airports "with links from Belo­russky, Kievsky, Paveletsky and Savyolovsky stations would be a considerable improvement, upgrading service to European levels." 

By Tom Washington and Alexei Peskov