OREANDA-NEWS. June 05, 2012.  Tickets for trains operated by the Federal Passenger Company, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, are to go on sale in Poland following the signing of an agency agreement by Mikhail Akulov, Vice-President of Russian Railways and Managing Director of the Federal Passenger Company, and Janusz Malinowski, CEO of PKP Intercity.

The agency agreement provides for the sale of tickets for trains and carriages on long-distance international services operated by the Federal Passenger Company at global prices at PKP points of sale in Poland.

"We see this agreement as a significant step forward. We now have new opportunities to attract passengers. When we launched the Nice - Paris service, we expected that it would not only be enjoyed by passengers from Russia and France, but would also enable passengers to buy tickets for our trains from stations in other countries which lie en route," said Mikhail Akulov.

According to Janusz Malinowski, passengers in Poland had waited a long time for this agreement: "It is very convenient for Polish passengers since many want to travel to Paris and Nice on Russian trains."

This is the first such agreement signed by the Federal Passenger Company with a foreign rail company following the introduction of new conditions regulating the sale of tickets on international routes and the transition to global prices.

Passengers can now buy tickets at global prices at PKP points of sale for Train No. 17/18 Moscow - Nice, Train No. 23/24 Moscow – Paris and Train No. 69/70 Saratov - Berlin.

Also available from PKP points of sale are tickets for direct carriages Novosibirsk - Berlin, Omsk - Berlin, Chelyabinsk - Berlin and Adler - Berlin, which are part of Train No. 69/70 Saratov - Berlin, and for the direct carriage Kaliningrad - Berlin, which is part of Train No. 7/8 Kaliningrad - Gdynia.

The next stage in the cooperation between the parties to the agreement will be to organise ticket sales for trains operating between Russia and Poland via the Internet.

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The Federal Passenger Company operates other international services which pass through Poland, including Moscow - Amsterdam, Moscow - Basel, Moscow - Warsaw, Moscow - Vienna, Moscow - Nice, Moscow - Paris, Moscow - Prague, Moscow - Cheb, St. Petersburg - Prague, Novosibirsk - Berlin, Omsk - Berlin, Saratov - Berlin, Ufa – Berlin and Chelyabinsk - Berlin.

In addition, Train No. 9/10 Polonaise Moscow - Warsaw is jointly operated by the Federal Passenger Company and Polish railways and runs every day.

Significant events in the first two years since the Federal Passenger Company was established include two new routes which pass through Poland: Moscow - Nice and Moscow - Berlin - Paris.

In autumn 2011, the Federal Passenger Company and PKP Intercity signed an agreement to cooperate on international passenger services which provides for cooperation on managing the routes of international passenger trains, improving the commercial efficiency of passenger trains, ensuring the innovative development of the sales organisation, and handling the legal support for international passenger traffic between Poland - Russia.