Customer Service

Quality of transportation service

Long‑distance passengers receive an email invitation to participate in an online survey that on a regular basis tracks passenger satisfaction with quality of services provided. This survey provides the Company with recent feedback and customer reviews, enabling prompt responses to passenger comments and suggestions.

Personal data of JSC FPC's customers is processed in strict accordance with the rules of Federal Law No. 152‑FZ dated 27 July 2006 “On Personal Data”, as well as with the specifications of regulatory documents of regulatory agencies (Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, Roskomnadzor, etc.).

Customer satisfaction index (CSICustomer Satisfaction Index.) is derived from weighted scores on the following parameters:

• Ticketing process (online, in a mobile app or ticket offices)
• Cost of travel
• Customer service on‑board (travel comfort, technical condition and cleanliness of carriages, safety, attendants’ performance, quality of bed linen and travel kit, travel with kids, Poputchik portal)
• Catering services (prepaid meals, dining carriage services)
• Loyalty programme

In 2024, the number of respondents who assessed the quality of services provided by JSC FPC was 1.2 million passengers, which is twice as many as in 2023 (about 542,900 respondents); to a large extent, the noticeable increase in the number of passenger responses was due to the automation of mailings, questionnaire completion, and personalisation.

According to the passenger service quality assessment data for 2024, the passenger satisfaction index amounted to 88.2 points on a 100‑point scale, which is 0.3 points higher than the target value calculated at the end of 2023In December 2023, the methodology for determining the passenger satisfaction index was updated..

The NPSNet Promoter Score. index is regularly monitored to promote the customer care and increase competitiveness, as well as to determine the level of passenger loyalty and readiness to recommend the Company.

The 2024 NPS index is 47 and remains unchanged since 2023. The shares of promoters and critics decreased while the share of those with neutral attitude increased.

In the leaders of passenger satisfaction evaluation parameters are attendants' work, contents of travel kits, and ticket purchase experience, in the growth zone are comfort level, technical condition, and experience of travelling with children.

Final CSI and NPS figures in 2024

To improve the quality of service, the algorithm for mailing questionnaires to passengers has been changed. Now most questionnaires are mailed no later than three hours after the trip, and answers to a number of questions related to ticket details are included into the questionnaire automatically. This reduced the time the survey would take to complete. Based on the Trip Review survey data, ratings of personnel, carriages and trains, as well as passenger satisfaction and loyalty indices are calculated.

New in service quality management

In order to improve service quality, the Company has established a competence centre for the improvement, implementation and control of technological processes that shape the final service provided to passengers. A new model for monitoring the quality of pre‑voyage maintenance of passenger trains was also introduced, thus ensuring continuous assessment of 100% of trains throughout their life cycle.

In the reporting year, the Company continued to develop and implement digital tools in the area of service quality control. In particular, A digital system (automated workstation) was established to monitor the quality of pre‑trip maintenance: the Pre‑Trip Control. It allows to accumulate analytics on quality deviations, analyse and eliminate root causes of nonconformities. Furthermore, the Company completed the installation of queue management systems (QuMS) at five railway stations across the Russian Federation. Currently, QuMS's have been implemented at 68 rail stations across the country.

The share of electronic sales of tickets and services is continuously growing. Thus, electronic sales increased from 5.5% in 2010 to 80.8% in 2024.

Customer service innovations

Enhancing meal quality

As part of a new model for serving long‑distance passenger trains, JSC FPC is implementing the concept of catering in 45 trains (76 bistro carriages). This new method for serving meals to passengers on FPC trains is based on the idea that meals are prepared in factories, allowing for quality standardisation and a reduction in the amount of time it takes to serve passengers. The concept is being put into action by JSC FPC and LLC NTS.

The number of updated administrative carriages with an integrated kitchen module to sale meals of a high degree of preparedness been expanded. Thirteen of such carriages were included in six JSC FPC's trains.

The project launched in March 2023 to provide catering services in bistro carriages by the Moscow, Kuibyshev and Volga Directorates for Passenger Catering was scaled up. In April 2024, two such directorates were established in the North‑Western and Gorkovsky branches of JSC FPC. The catering project covers catering services in 58 bistro carriages and 11 updated administrative carriages, which are included in 36 trains.

Since the launch of the Food Delivery to Train service (December 2019), more than 50,000 passengers have used it. A total of 112 businesses in 74 locations have been connected to the service (+20% and +12% year‑on‑year, respectively). Additional revenue amounts to RUB 37 million, which is 24% more than a year earlier, and the average purchase increased by 25% to RUB 1,716.

Making railway service more accessible for different categories of passengers

In 2024, travel conditions for passengers with reduced mobility were improved. In particular, to improve the quality of service for visually impaired passengers, a Braille catalogue of goods was developed and placed in all compartments dedicated for passengers with reduced mobility. In addition, the Passenger Identification and Service System was further developed in terms of interaction with the Mobility Facilitation Centre of Russian Railways: now the train crew have access to information on requests for paratransits' travel on a mobile device to provide such passengers with situational assistance.

In the reporting year, the following measures were taken to enhance travelling with animalsThe new rules came into effect on 1 January 2025.:

• The Russian Railways website was improved to enable issuing tickets for unaccompanied animals, which led to the increase in the number of animals transported to 80,000 in 2024 (57,500 in 2023)
• The rules for the transportation of pets on trains were simplified:
  • Now it is allowed to carry pets without buying out all seats in an entire compartment.
  • It became mandatory to issue a transportation document regardless of the type of transportation (whether free of charge or not).
  • The number of passengers is no longer counted when calculating the maximum allowed number of people and pets travelling in a compartment.

Increasing passenger comfort

New comfortable trains were launched in 2024:

• A new higher‑speed double‑decker Aurora train commenced to serve the St. Petersburg – Moscow route. The train consists of 15 carriages equipped with standard and improved seating arrangements. The seats are equipped with footrests and folding tables, the backrest inclination is adjustable. There is also a second‑class sleeping carriage with a seat for a paratransit, a first‑class sleeping carriage, and a bistro carriage. In the updated rolling stock of the train, special attention is paid to interior and exterior design; there are branded souvenirs as well. The first‑class sleeping carriage features cobalt mesh tableware, which is made especially for the Aurora train at the Imperial Porcelain Factory.
• The Pearl of the Caucasus, a tourist train, was completely renewed and branded according to an individual project. Uniforms were designed and manufactured for the train crews' employees. The train includes specialised carriages: two dining carriages and those with a bar, a lounge, a shower, a spa, and a power generator. The bar carriage can hosts theatricals and offer karaoke facilities. The lounge carriage houses children's festivals and offers breakfasts for passengers of second‑class sleeping carriages. The shower carriage has seven shower cabins. The carriage with power generators maintains comfortable travelling conditions under any circumstances. For the first time in the history of Russian railroads, there is a spa carriage with an infra‑red sauna, shower cabins, a bar counter, special areas for relaxation, and equipment for washing and ironing clothes.

In addition, the Travel Kit service was improved in the reporting year. The Company completely renewed hygienic and children's travelling kits provided to passengers of high comfort carriages. For the first time, the Company developed special travel kits for tourist trains operated as a part of the Travel with Russian Railways! project. In total, over 10.5 million travel kits were provided to passengers in 2024.

The Poputchik infotainment system (Fellow Passenger) received a new functional design and e‑books of EPUB format; it was supplemented with an interactive map of the Russian Federation with several thousand tourist sites along the train routes. The number of trains equipped with Poputchik system reached 115. New first‑class sleeping carriages now provide for watching movies through the Okko online cinema platform, directly on built‑in screens.

In 2024, within the framework of the seventh annual contest of projects utilising process management tools, BPM Project of the Year, the Company won the Special Jury Prize for its systematic approach to improving the quality of passenger service.