‘Road transport will start operating in the area as soon as the first block of buildings has been commissioned, and trams and trolleys will become available in another one and a half to two years. This delay is due to the difficulties of making tracks,’ says Academic construction project manager Stanislav Pridvishkin.

‘A high-speed tram is expected to be introduced in 2010, when the first series of trade and business centers is done. The advantage of this new means of transport, still new to the Urals, is that one can get downtown in fifteen to twenty minutes, which is really good, given the current congestion level. The overall transportation strategy of the area provides for the inner-district links as well,’ Mr Pridvishkin says.