ArmInfo.During the New Year and Christmas holidays from December 28, 2018 to January 7, 2019, the South Caucasian Railway CJSC transported 11,320 passengers, which is 31% higher than the same period last year.
At the same time, as the press service of the company reports, in the international communication the Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan train carried 1,093 passengers (an increase of 42%), and 9,519 passengers in the local traffic (an increase of 21%). 708 people became passengers of the new "Express" electric train on the Yerevan-Gyumri-Yerevan route. The increase in the number of passengers on the railway in 2018 was marked against the background of a decline in the volume of passenger traffic in the republic as a whole, which is evidence of the growing confidence of citizens in this SCR service. So, if for 11 months of 2018 the decline in passenger traffic by road was 9.4%, then over the same period, the number of passengers on the railway increased by 5.3%. Positive dynamics in passenger transportation of SCR has been observed since 2015.
At the same time, the productivity and workload (efficiency) of passenger trains is increasing. According to operational data, the growth in the number of passengers of SCR in 2018 was 5%, 385 thousand people were transported, of which 64 thousand - in international traffic. In 2018, the number of passengers, a record for 10 years, took advantage of the traffic services in the direction of Batumi - more than 53 thousand people. The largest number of passengers during the SCR activity period - 203 thousand people - was transported along the route Yerevan-Gyumri-Yerevan.
Due to the increase in speed of movement (travel time is 2 hours and 10 minutes) and affordability (2500 drams), the Yerevan-Gyumri-Yerevan express launched in March 2018 enjoys great popularity among citizens. Its services were used by 14 thousand people. In the near future, a second electric train will arrive at the South Caucasus Railway, which will increase the frequency of flights between the two main cities of the republic.
"South Caucasus Railway" CJSC is a 100% subsidiary of OJSC "Russian Railways" and carries out the concession management of Armenian railways. The railway infrastructure of Armenia was transferred to the concession management of SCR CJSC according to the concession agreement signed on February 13, 2008. The term of concession management is 30 years with the right to prolong for another 10 years.