Rising railway fares a contributing factor(221 words)

Published: 7/18/2001

A meeting at the Ministry of Transport today has revealed a significant pickup in airline passenger volumes in the first half of 2001 with a growth in numbers overall of 12% over the first half of 2000. A figure in line with the results that have been reported by the major carriers for the first half of 2001. The interesting conclusion from the ministry however, was that one of the contributing factors behind the growth in passenger travelling by air was that the relatively small rises in the price of air fares in the first half compared with those of rail. According to the ministry, the price of rail fares rose by 73% in the period reflecting the government's push to raise rates to reflect the cost of the heavily subsidised railways. Airfares however, have risen by only 19% in the period resulting in the airline's regaining some price competitiveness. This appears to have begun to reverse some of the decline of the past few years attributable to air fares growing at a significantly faster rate than those of rail. Leading to disparities that resulted in travel by rail from Moscow to the resort of Sochi costing 20% of the airfare in 2000 with airfares rising by 45% during the year.

Article ID: 2655