Translated material
Ticket with extra charge
Russian Railways is seeking compensation from the regions for losses from suburban transportation
Regional authorities who, for populist reasons, want to curb the growth of fares on commuter trains will have to compensate for the railway's losses from their budgets. Gennady Grishin, head of the passenger transportation organization department of the passenger transportation department of Russian Railways OJSC, announced new conditions for interaction between the monopolist company and regional administrations at the end of last week. It is noteworthy that his speech followed shortly after the authorities of Moscow and the Moscow region agreed to abandon the new principle of territorial division of regions, which resulted in a rapid increase in fares. But Mr. Grishin’s words became a warning to officials from completely different regions.According to Mr. Grishin, JSC Russian Railways began negotiations back in 2008 with the administrations of the constituent entities of the federation on the transition to a new system of relations in terms of organizing transport services for the population on commuter trains. In particular, the new contracts that the railway workers proposed signing to the regional authorities provide that, starting in 2010, regional budgets will compensate the monopolist for half of all losses. “If now we cover the bulk of losses through freight transportation, then in 2011 this will not happen,” Russian Railways refers to the upcoming abolition of cross-subsidies in the industry and the need to move to 100 percent compensation by the regions for missing payments.
Local authorities have paid for the “lost incomes” of transport workers before, but, the railway workers complain, “in the missing amount.” Thus, according to the passenger transportation department of JSC Russian Railways, in 2009, regional authorities spent about 2.5 billion rubles to compensate for losses arising from state regulation of tariffs. At the same time, the railway for suburban transportation “operated at a loss for 27.7 billion rubles.”
The sharp drop in economic activity of the population caused by the economic crisis and the reduction in incomes of Russians significantly affected the passenger flow of the suburban complex of Russian Railways. The number of passengers last year, according to Mr. Grishin, decreased by 12%. It seems that this is what forced the monopolists to speed up the introduction of new conditions for the provision of transport services to the regions. According to a Russian Railways representative, during the negotiations, the management of 51 regions agreed to cover 50% of the company’s expenses for maintaining the commuter train complex. In total, JSC Russian Railways provides suburban transportation in 73 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. “Now the subjects must determine how many electric trains they need so that they can plan the budget and pay the carrier,” Mr. Grishin recalled.
However, in a number of regions the railway workers’ proposal did not find understanding. In particular, the administrations of the Kaliningrad region, Primorsky and Stavropol territories, apparently, initially considered the conditions of the monopolists to be enslaving. Russian Railways admits that due to the economic situation in some regions, the population really cannot afford tickets at the cost of transportation. But the company considers this to be a problem of the regional authorities and refers to the fact that the reform of the industry is in accordance with the decisions of the federal government. If local authorities refuse to “take to the new rails” of cooperation, Russian Railways threatens both a reduction in the number of routes and a complete cancellation of suburban rail services. According to Gennady Grishin, the number of electric trains running around the country has already decreased by 600 and now there are less than 7 thousand. “This figure will decrease,” warned a representative of Russian Railways, citing the “financing situation.”
Railway workers, apparently, have already tried to apply transport sanctions to the administration of the Kaliningrad region. However, the company’s attempt to “reduce the cost of passenger rail transportation in suburban services” by canceling a number of routes attracted the attention of the antimonopoly agency. According to the official website of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Kaliningrad department of the FAS, based on complaints from residents of the city of Zelenogradsk, opened a case against Russian Railways OJSC on grounds of violation of the “prohibition on abuse of a dominant position.” The Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Kaliningrad Region believes that the actions of the monopolist “could lead to a deterioration in transport links and infringement of the interests of consumers.” According to Russian Railways, the carrier’s losses in the Kaliningrad region last year alone amounted to about 400 million rubles. It is this region that railway workers especially highlight as the most problematic in terms of interaction with local authorities. “We are not attacking anyone, we are just trying to conduct a dialogue,” Mr. Grishin referred to the intractability of the regional governor, Georgy Boos, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent.
The Moscow authorities, as Gennady Grishin told Vremya Novostey, refused to co-finance suburban transportation, but established an “economically justified level of tariffs.” Apparently, the financial claims of the railway workers were the reason for the new zonal division of Moscow and the Moscow region when organizing the movement of electric trains, which led to an increase in fares on some routes by 3-5 times. Let us remind you that from the new year the capital was allocated as a separate zone for suburban railway transport. The cost of travel in Moscow was set at 26 rubles. and when crossing city borders, it began to be added to the regional tariff, established on January 1, 2010 in the amount of 16 rubles. 50 kopecks per zone. However, due to the discontent of residents and under the threat of protests, the authorities were forced to once again reconsider the zonal division of territories.
As representatives of the Moscow Railway, a branch of Russian Railways OJSC, said in a conversation with journalists, from February 6, fares for travel on electric trains at the Moscow hub are calculated based on the previous transport division. Part of the city's territories still belong to the Moscow region zones, and regional ticket prices should apply here. However, the Moscow Railway does not intend to reimburse passengers for the money they have overpaid since the beginning of the year. As the head of the passenger service department of the suburban directorate of the Moscow Railway, Andrei Shelenkov, said, at the time of the introduction of new tariffs the company did not violate anything and acted in accordance with the regulations established by local authorities. “There are no grounds for compensation,” Mr. Shelenkov said.