KERCH/Crimean Republic/, December 25. /TASS/. The first passenger train en route from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol has crossed the Crimean Bridge and entered the territory of Crimea, a TASS correspondent has reported.

The train passed through the railway part of the bridge for nearly 20 minutes. It has started traveling in Crimea and is expected to arrive at its final destination Sevastopol at 9.25 a.m. Moscow Time.

The railway part of the Crimean Bridge was opened on December 23. Russian President Vladimir Putin took a train ride along its span. On the same day, the first train number 7/8 departed from the Moscow railway station of St. Petersburg to Sevastopol bypassing Ukraine’s territory.

The 19-kilometer Crimean Bridge, the longest one in Russia and Europe, links the Taman Peninsula (Russia’s Krasnodar region) and the Kerch Peninsula (Crimea). It will provide uninterrupted transport link between Crimea and other regions of Russia. The car section of the bridge opened in May 2018.

The construction of the railway part of the bridge was officially completed on December 18, 2019. The first passenger train will cross the Kerch Strait on December 25. The first passenger train from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol departed at 14:00 on December 23. The second train started traveling from Moscow to Simferopol on December 24.

The railway bridge will open to freight traffic in July 2020.