The end of the 2026 navigation season for the "Meteor" and "Valday" hydrofoils is an event in the history of seasonal river transport in Nizhny Novgorod Region: on October 7, 2026, the company "Vodolyot" announced that the last runs of the hydrofoil high-speed vessels ""Meteor 120R"" and "Valday 45R" would take place on October 18, 2026.[1][2] The high-speed water transport season opened in May 2026; the first vessels set out on routes to Gorodets and Kazan.[3][4]
Closed routes
By the time the end-of-navigation date was announced, the "Meteor 120R" had already ceased service on the following routes: Vasilsursk, Kozmodemyansk, Cheboksary, Mariinsky Posad, Kazan, Chkalovsk, Sokolskoye, Yuryevets, Kineshma, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, and Tver.[2] By then the "Valday 45R" had also stopped running to Dzerzhinsk, Pavlovo, Chulkovo, Chkalovsk, and Yurino.[2] The sightseeing runs "Scenic River Cruise" and "Shukhov Tower on the Oka" were also discontinued.[2]
Possible extension on the Nizhny Novgorod–Bor route
Valday 45R service on the Nizhny Novgorod–Bor route was being considered for extension, tentatively until the end of October or the beginning of November 2026.[1][2] The reason was the closure of the Nizhny Novgorod cable car after the July emergency incident: the river service was meant to provide an additional means of crossing between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor.[3][4] No final decision on the extension had been made at the time of the announcement; it had previously been reported that it would depend on weather conditions.[2]
Sources
- Zhivyom v Nizhnem — Nizhny Novgorod's Meteors and Valdays to end the navigation season on October 18 — Zhivem v Nizhnem
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — End date of the navigation season for Meteors and Valdays in Nizhny Novgorod announced — Nizhny Novgorod News
- Newsroom24 — Navigation season for Valdays and Meteors in Nizhny Novgorod Region to end on October 18 — Transport
- Otkrytyy Nizhniy — Valdays near Nizhny to end the season on October 18; Bor service may be extended — Society