ZiL lanes (also sometimes called "Chaika lanes") are lanes on some principal roads in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

dedicated to vehicles carrying senior government officials. Known officially in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

as ''rezervniye polosy'' ("reserved lanes") notably but not exclusively used by

ZiL OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia. The la ...

and Chaika brand limousines transporting high ranking government and military functionaries of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. ZiL lanes emerged in the 1960s during the rule of

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...

, replacing the previous system of having other vehicles flagged down to make way for those of top officials. A two way lane was inserted into the middle of some of Moscow's main highways in place of the central reservations, and were off-limits to all traffic but authorised civilian and emergency service vehicles. ZiL lanes and restricted routes caused considerable disruption to Moscow's traffic because of the absolute priority given to their users. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

's''

Martin Kettle Martin James Kettle (born 7 September 1949) is a British journalist and author. The son of two prominent communist activists, Arnold Kettle (best remembered as a literary critic; 1916–1986) and Margot Kettle (née Gale; 1916–1995), he was ed ...

described the frustration they caused to ordinary motorists in the mid-1980s: There were two principal ZiL lanes in Moscow. The one on Leninsky Prospekt was used to shuttle officials to and from

Vnukovo International Airport Vnukovo, formally Vnukovo Andrei Tupolev International Airport (named after Andrei Tupolev) ( rus, links=no, Внуково, p=ˈvnukəvə) , is a dual-runway international airport located in Vnukovo District, southwest of the centre of Moscow, ...

(favoured for government traffic) while the other was on

Kutuzovsky Prospekt Kutuzovsky Prospekt (russian: Куту́зовский проспе́кт) is a major radial avenue in Moscow, Russia, named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, leader of the Russian field army during the French invasion of Russia. The prospekt ...

, ''en route'' to the elite residential area of

Dorogomilovo District Dorogomilovo District (russian: райо́н Дорогоми́лово) is a district of Western Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. The area of the district is . Population: Postal codes: 113000 to 119000. The district ...

and leading out of the city to the country

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

s of the Communist Party elite. The latter was a key part of what was termed the "Government Route", a network of connecting city roads linking the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...

with the residences of the members of the ''

nomenklatura The ''nomenklatura'' ( rus, номенклату́ра, p=nəmʲɪnklɐˈturə, a=ru-номенклатура.ogg; from la, nomenclatura) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key admi ...

''. The network was always heavily policed and was off-limits to casual traffic until the late 1960s. The Leninsky Prospekt ZiL lane is no longer used as Vnukovo is no longer the government's preferential airport. However, the Kutuzovsky Prospekt lane continues to exist, and is used by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

's current political elite who still maintain dachas in Moscow's outskirts, although they nowadays get driven by German luxury cars rather than ZiLs or Chaikas.

London's "Zil lanes" for duration of 2012 Olympic Games

The term has also been used pejoratively for the games lanes of the

Olympic route network An Olympic route network (ORN) and Paralympic route network (PRN) is a network of dedicated roads linking venues and other key sites in a host city during Olympic and Paralympic games to ensure that athletes and officials get to events on time. R ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

that were dedicated to vehicles transporting

VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...

s, athletes and officials during the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Regular traffic was blocked from many Olympic Lanes, though local buses could share some of them. Such lanes have been used in other Olympic events, but attracted controversy in London for their disruptive effect on the traffic and because corporate sponsors were also entitled to use the lanes despite not having an operational need.

London's "Zil lanes" for duration of 2012 Olympic Games

References

Further reading