The price of train tickets can increase, but inessentially, said the director of Moldova’s Railways (CFM) Oleg Tofilat. He noted that passenger transport is not a component that ensures the functionality of the company and the administration therefore does not bank a lot on the revenues from higher ticket prices. According to the director, emphasis is now placed on the increase in freight transportation, IPN reports.
Oleg Tofilat said the rise in ticket prices is not a priority at the moment. The efforts of the administration of Moldova’s Railways are aimed at the popularization of this means of transport among the citizens and the improvement of freight transportation capacities. This process brings CFM much higher revenues than passenger transport.
“We will possibly adjust the price of tickets, but it won’t be something spectacular. At present, we are interested in increasing the number of passengers, of sold tickets rather than in modifying the price. Passenger transport accounts for 1% of the revenues of Moldova’s Railways. The modification of ticket prices is a challenging process with a minimum effect. The price of tickets does not have a weight in the economy of Moldova’s Railways. We must focus on the increase in freight transportation and extension of transit corridors as such moves can bring hundreds of millions of lei a year,” Oleg Tofilat stated in the talk show “Freedom with Dorin Galben” on TV8 channel.
He assured that all the salary arrears were cleared as a result of the augmentation of the volume of freight transported by railway. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the war in Ukraine and the blocking of Ukrainian ports reoriented the export of freight to land routes. The rail freight transport in Moldova grew by 89% in the first quarter of this year.
“We do not have salary arrears at the moment. Our revenues are now four times higher than in the corresponding period last year. We increased the operational volumes impressively and revenues also grew. We make money primarily from our freight transport operations. We simply maximally increased the volumes. Freight transport broke all the historical records,” said the CFM director.
Earlier, the state-run company Moldova’s Railways announced that since July 2022 the salaries of all the company’s employees will be raised by about 70%.
