OREANDA-NEWS. On April 30, 2008 Russian Railways and Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, have launched a joint pilot project to process and pay for tickets on suburban railways using bank cards, reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

From the end of April 2008, passengers will be able to buy tickets for the high-speed Sputnik train running between Moscow - Yaroslavl - Mytischi on Moscow Railways.

Passengers can buy single, return and season tickets. Tickets can be bought using bank cards at special counters at Yaroslavl train station and Losinoostrovskaya and Mytischi stations.

Registering and purchasing tickets using bank cards works just the same as paying for purchases using cards in normal shops, with passengers receiving receipts to confirm the transaction.

The project to pay for tickets using plastic cards is being implemented with the help of the Russian Payment System Sberkart, with Sberbank issuing the cards during the pilot project and TransCreditBank as acquirer. Other issuers will be able to join the system in the future.