Post by mhbruin on Oct 8, 2022 9:42:58 GMT -8
How About One Lane For Traffic Both Ways?
There are also reports of Russia sending a test train down the tracks, though that seems very unlikely at this hour. Rails are not a roadway, and the heat of the fire not only damaged the strength of the steel structure, it almost certainly distorted the rails. Additionally, the amount of debris on the rail has to be immense. So for the moment I’m discounting claims, even the ones that come a video of a train leaving the station, that indicate Russia is resuming rail service.
Crimea and Punishment
They Need to Get a Lot of Stuff Into Crimea
In any case, the immediate effects of the explosion are already being felt in Crimea, where the line of cars trying to make their way out of the peninsula to the north is turning into a stream and prices at the gas pumps have doubled overnight. Russian officials have said that the area has 15 days worth of fuel, which is likely an overestimate, especially when everyone there is trying to top of their tank. However, there’s no doubt that Crimea can be supplied by sea. Sea ports are kind of their thing; the reason that, other than Putin’s ego, Russia wanted Crimea in the first place.
Still, the logistics of loading material onto ships, moving them across the strait, and unloading them again is definitely more difficult than multiple trains running daily across the rail bridge. Complicating this situation is that ships are currently prohibited from sailing under any section of the damaged bridge, so any Russian shipments sitting up at Rostov-on-Don will have to be reloaded onto rail or truck and moved to points south before they can be put back on ships.
Shh!
There are also reports of Russia sending a test train down the tracks, though that seems very unlikely at this hour. Rails are not a roadway, and the heat of the fire not only damaged the strength of the steel structure, it almost certainly distorted the rails. Additionally, the amount of debris on the rail has to be immense. So for the moment I’m discounting claims, even the ones that come a video of a train leaving the station, that indicate Russia is resuming rail service.
Crimea and Punishment
They Need to Get a Lot of Stuff Into Crimea
In any case, the immediate effects of the explosion are already being felt in Crimea, where the line of cars trying to make their way out of the peninsula to the north is turning into a stream and prices at the gas pumps have doubled overnight. Russian officials have said that the area has 15 days worth of fuel, which is likely an overestimate, especially when everyone there is trying to top of their tank. However, there’s no doubt that Crimea can be supplied by sea. Sea ports are kind of their thing; the reason that, other than Putin’s ego, Russia wanted Crimea in the first place.
Still, the logistics of loading material onto ships, moving them across the strait, and unloading them again is definitely more difficult than multiple trains running daily across the rail bridge. Complicating this situation is that ships are currently prohibited from sailing under any section of the damaged bridge, so any Russian shipments sitting up at Rostov-on-Don will have to be reloaded onto rail or truck and moved to points south before they can be put back on ships.
Shh!