Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 21 May (BelTA) – The demand for passenger transportation can be increased not only through a pricing policy, head of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin told a press conference after the 62nd session of the CIS Rail Transport Council, BelTA has learned.

"In this respect the launch of the Talgo train service should play a positive role because this is attractive from the point of view of travel time and new products, including upgraded cars. Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan should have everything harmonized in terms of quality of the services of international passenger transportation and prices,” Vladimir Yakunin noted.

Vladimir Yakunin said that in Q1 there were no improvements in the international passenger transport. As for 2014, the council members noted that the volumes of international passenger traffic on broad gauge railways declined by more than 40% over 2013. "Yesterday we firmly expressed our willingness to keep the international passenger traffic in place. Moreover, I promised to my colleagues that the Russian Railways will support this work. I personally will look into the economic and organizational issues,” Vladimir Yakunin noted.

Head of the Belarusian Railways Vladimir Morozov noted that at the beginning of the year, the Belarusian and Russian railways reduced ticket prices for Belarus-Russia train services by nearly 50%, depending on the booking patterns. We will keep looking for the ways to attract more passengers. This is an ongoing process,” Vladimir Morozov said.

The 62nd plenary session of the CIS Rail Transport Council was held in Minsk on 20-21 May. The session was presided by Russian Railways CEO Vladimir Yakunin. The event considered 12 issues relating to the international transport of passengers and goods, joint use of rolling stock, mutual settlements for services rendered, and the development of common regulations. The heads of the CIS rail administrations also held bilateral meetings.

The Rail Transport Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States and its executive body (the Directorate) were established in 1992. The council primarily focuses on ensuring the technological unity of the railways. Every year traffic schedules and plans for compiling international trains are developed. A lot of attention is also paid to the technical state of freight cars. The next session will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.