Russian Railways expects passenger traffic to grow 1.5% to over 1.2 billion people in 2024

MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Passenger transportation on the Russian Railways network is expected to grow 1.5% in 2024 to 1,217,800,000 people, Deputy General Director Ivan Kolesnikov said in an interview with RZD-TV, the railway's corporate television.

Passenger numbers on long-distance routes are expected to reach 125.1 million (+2.5%), while traffic on suburban routes will increase 1.4% to 1.093 billion passengers.

Kolesnikov said that Russian Railways is ready for the high summer season. The railway plans to use over 14,000 cars during the peak period, compared to 10,000 or fewer cars during standard demand periods.

"If we carry 8-9 million passengers during a normal month, then this value increases to 14-15 million in the summer. This year we expect similar dynamics. We are planning to transport at least 60 million passengers in the summer. It is clear that we have expanded our long-distance train network practically to its maximum potential. We are trying to respond to this by increasing the compositions of these trains in certain directions," Kolesnikov said.