A bus trip from Makhachkala to Moscow

Corruption has become a guarantee of freedom of movement for the terrorists.

Tens of thousands of people travel from Moscow to Daghestan and back every month. There are Moscow students, guest workers, shuttle traders, businessmen and officials among them. One can reach Moscow by plane (three Tu-154 aircrafts fly to Moscow from Makhachkala airport every day), by train (there are trains every day too) and by double-decker buses with sleeping berths. Every year tickets for all these forms of transport, which depart every day from Makhachkala, Derbent, Khasavyurt and Kialyar become more and more expensive.

Only the rich stratum of the population travel by plane. One-way ticket prices can cost from 6200 to 8500 rubles. Despite this, the planes are always full and it's difficult to buy a ticket later than three days before the flight.

Compartment train tickets are easier to buy, as the prices are almost as high as the plane fares (4300-5200 rubles), but the trip takes two full days. The large carriages do not get full, as I observed myself, although stowaway passengers get on the train at transit stations. Common carriage tickets costing 1800 rubles are quite difficult to buy. There are usually no more places 15 days before the day of departure.

In the meantime, the buses themselves stand in line for passengers. A seat costs 1500 rubles, a 'sleeping' berth costs 2500. The drivers work semi-legally. The terrorists who exploded bombs at Moscow subway stations 'Park Kultury' and 'Lubyanka' came to Moscow by bus.

The bus haulers often break the law, but no one demands that they observe the laws regulating their business. 'They have an associated 'family', without which one can do nothing. This business feeds corruption in official organizations responsible for our security. It is not surprising that the officials do not want to notice violations of the law. Otherwise they would lose their profit', passengers say.

The bus park is expanding quickly. In Daghestan, anyone can start in business by operating a permit for a bus and bringing an old bus from abroad. After an accident involving a double-decker bus, it was found that the bus was very old and the driver had been driving a bus for the first time in his life.

Many questions have to be resolved. Why do the buses depart from various parking spots and not from bus stations? Why are there no ticket offices where the passengers' data are recorded? Why don't the buses follow a timetable, instead of departing when getting full? Usually six to ten buses a day depart for Moscow from Makhachkala and during holidays the number is bigger.

As the buses are not constructed for such long distance trips, the drivers change the construction of the buses as it suits them. Seats are removed, 'berths' are installed, each measuring 1.5 square meters. Two persons are expected to lay on each berth. Even middle-sized people do not fit into them, as I experienced myself. The driver stops the bus for lunch or to smoke wherever he wants. A column of five buses passed by a place with lots of cafes and stopped near a small snack bar where the driver’s friends worked. We travelled about 2000 km, we passed about ten police checkpoints, but not a single time were we stopped for document checks. Near some checkpoints we were stopped for about two minutes so that our driver and a police officer could shake hands.

In Moscow the bus arrives, not at a bus station, but in the parking area near Luzhniki stadium. The status of this parking area remains unclear. What could it be? An occasional illegal parking area? A normal parking area? Why are no documents of passengers checked?

The bus on our way back was very old. It swayed from side to side. The old motor could not sustain the load. The bus stopped very often due to problems with the engine. So we travelled two days and not one and a half. One of the ventilation shafts on the roof was stuck on with glue. It was very hot and dusty inside, especially when we drove on the earthen part of the federal highway.

Terrorists with tens of kilograms of explosive materials could come to Moscow by such a bus. After the explosions the buses started to be checked, passengers say. But ordinary people who suffer the brunt of this. As one of drivers said to VK, the buses from Luzhniki were delayed for a day after the explosions and were checked several times. Drivers and some of the passengers gave their fingerprints. One 'suspicious' person was taken away handcuffed but then set free. All this time the passengers were not let out of the bus, and the engine was running to warm the inside.

In other words, little has changed since Basayev's gang attacked Budenovsk and Raduyev's gang took thousands of hostages in Kizlyar. Corruption remains a guarantee of freedom of movement for the terrorists. But those who let the terrorists through for money are not considered to be their accomplices. The inspector's aim is to get as much money as possible. He would let through anyone.

Three years ago, the late Adilgerey Magomedtagirov, the interior minister of Daghestan at the time, had a clear-out of the Road Police of Daghestan for corruption and racketeering. He pointed out that many of its members had not been paid their salaries, as it wasn’t necessary. He discharged some police officials and closed some checkpoints on the federal highway. But generally, little has changed. Passenger buses are still getting into horrible accidents. The last tragedy happened on February the 4th in the Tarum district of Daghestan, when a 'Neoplan' bus crashed into a 'Kamaz' - 7 people were killed and 11 injured.

Musa Musayev, exclusively for VK