| Russian Railways ruined the business of travel agencies Travel companies have inundated the president of Russian Railways (RZD), Gennady Fadeev, with letters of protest against the procedure for purchasing group train tickets introduced this spring. Mr. Fadeev has not yet responded to the messages. But, as the Vremya Novostey newspaper learned, Russian Railways are reviewing the controversial procedure.
At a press conference yesterday, the National Tourism Association (NTA) drew public attention to the order issued by Russian Railways Vice President Sergei Kozyrev on April 5. This document provides that when applications for group train tickets are satisfied, each member of the group is issued a personalized ticket. Since group tickets must be purchased 35 days before the departure date, it turns out that it is during this period that travel agencies organizing tours using railway transport must know the personal composition of each of their groups.
According to the chairman of the board of directors of the Orpheus travel club, vice-president of the NTA, Mikhail Romanov, this requirement contradicts the Russian mentality. “We are not in Germany,” he reminded the assembled journalists. “Well, our compatriots don’t plan trips around their native country in 35-45 days!” Moreover, according to Mr. Romanov, the essence of the problem in this case is not money - in the summer, “group” Russian Railways fares are not cheaper than individual ones (and even a little more expensive due to additional fees), and tour operators take this for granted. They are also not against paying for tickets 35 days before departure (although last year this period was 12 days). They just want the group tickets they buy to be “untitled” as in the past. According to the experience of operators, the personnel of Russian tour groups is “settled” no earlier than a week before departure. And with the new order, “in our opinion, Russian Railways are disrupting the summer tourist season in Russia,” Mr. Romanov said.
However, when Russian Railways changed the order, they obviously pursued the goal of equalizing access to tickets for popular routes between travel agencies and ordinary people. After all, the experience of last year showed that 45 days before the departure date of the train, almost all the seats on it were reserved for travel agencies, and therefore people could not buy tickets. However, a few days before its departure, the companies returned the proceeds and unsold tickets to the railway, which also did not have time to sell them in the remaining days, and as a result, the trains were sent half empty, and Russian Railways suffered losses. Now Russian Railways seem to be telling travel agencies: buy tickets on a general basis. However, the companies, apparently, are unhappy with the fact that in this case all members of the tour group will travel in different cars, and in general the guarantees that the company will be able to purchase a ticket for the tourist disappear.
The tour operators tried to convey their point of view on the problem personally to the President of Russian Railways, Gennady Fadeev. Since last week, at least three collective letters have been sent to his name: one on behalf of NTA members and two more from travel agencies from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities. “We understand that this measure (mandatory indication of passenger passport data. - Ed. ) is aimed against resellers of railway tickets, but it strikes at civilized market participants,” says one of these letters. According to Mr. Romanov, these messages did not cause any official reaction from Russian Railways. As a matter of routine, railroad executives still deviate from the strict provisions of the order of the company vice president. According to Mr. Romanov, “since May 21, by an oral instruction from the head of the Leningradsky Station (Moscow), the issuance of tickets on one form (for the entire group. - Ed .) has been restored for foreign tourists there."
An employee of Russian Railways, on condition of anonymity, told the Vremya Novostey newspaper that the railway monopolist is inclined to meet travel agencies halfway. The process for booking group tickets will be modified, although it has not yet been decided how. According to him, Russian Railways are pursuing the goal of not only making life difficult for station ticket speculators, but also “developing a mechanism for the responsibility of travel agencies to the railway.” The responsible railway worker advised to expect the appearance of this new mechanism in the next two weeks. Mikhail KUKUSHKIN |
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