Customer service innovations
FPC e-ticket service enhancements
A number of innovations were made in 2018 to the e-ticketing system – one of the Company’s top business priorities:
- as of 11 January, carriage documents for small pets and/or baggage can be booked on the Russian Railways website – either during the ticket purchasing process or added to a booking later on
- as of February, passengers can receive refund notifications through a customer’s personal account on the Russian Railways website, specifying the money transfer date and the receiving card number
- passengers travelling to/from the Kaliningrad Region from/to other Russian regions via Lithuania can now book e-tickets through the mobile app
- procedures for staff in abnormal situations during boarding e-ticket holders were updated.
The initiatives brought the share of e-ticket sales to 52% of all tickets sold.
Guide: how to buy train tickets on the Russian Railways website
Guide: how to buy train tickets using the app
Booking carriage documents for baggage and pets on the Russian Railways website
Starting from 2018, through their personal account on the Russian Railways website, during the ticket purchasing process passengers can book carriage documents for hand luggage for an extra fee, oversized luggage (baby carriages, bicycles, kayaks, hunting rifles, poles, etc.) on special terms, small pets, baggage in a dedicated compartment, or cars or motorbikes on car transporters. The online baggage and pet transport booking service was used by 102,000 passengers in 2018.
Transporting pets in a dedicated compartment
Starting from July 2018, passengers have been able to transport small pets in baggage compartments as unaccompanied baggage. The service is available on 237 FPC’s trains. Since the launch of the service, 905 pets have been transported.
Transporting unaccompanied children
Starting from 1 July 2018, Nevsky Express has provided a new transport service for unaccompanied children from ages 10 to 16 in dedicated seats and attended to by the train crew. The service includes meeting the child at the station, waiting in the premium lounge, escorting to the train, care throughout the journey, and passing on to parents or legal guardians at the destination station.
In 2019, we expect to expand the routes covered by this service.
FPC Market online store
FPC Market, an online store selling merchandise to passengers, was made available on all FPC’s passenger trains in October 2018. We are continuing to expand the product mix and add various categories that can be ordered and delivered on board.
At present, passengers have made over 2,220 orders at the online store.
Sending correspondence and parcels by train
For passengers’ convenience, FPC and its partners have launched a service for transporting small parcels by passenger trains.
Parcels are accepted for transport by service centres available throughout Russia at railway stations.
Wider use of the service allowed FPC to transport over 70,000 parcels by passenger trains in 2018.
Children’s travel kits
From 19 March to 28 February 2019, for passengers in deluxe carriages on branded trains, FPC organised the Children’s Amenity Kit and Trains are Better with Kids! marketing campaigns. Young passengers travelling in the carriages covered by the promotion received travel kits for ages either under five or from five to ten. During the promotion period, FPC delivered kits to approximately 847,000 children.
On-board call buttons
For a better customer experience, FPC’s trains have call buttons which contact special wristwatches worn by attendants on board.
In 2018, warning devices were installed on 83 branded trains, six international trains, and six regular trains (214 trains in total, comprising 2,790 passenger carriages).
On-board infotainment services
For the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Poputchik (Fellow Passenger) multimedia portal was launched on FPC’s trains.
Transporting fans by the Federal Passenger Company’s trains during the 2018 FIFA World Cup
The portal provides passengers with on-board access to regular internet services (information and entertainment) regardless of whether 3G/4G mobile networks are available.
The Poputchik multimedia portal is dedicated software installed on a server placed in the administrative carriage. The software provides access to information and multimedia content (press, books, music streaming, films, games, etc.) hosted directly on the train’s server. Poputchik can also be used for accessing the internet (within the coverage areas of mobile operators).
The Poputchik service was initially launched in the run-up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. During the days of the event, the portal was accessed by 97,696 passengers carried, and 16,835 passengers used it to access the internet.
As at the end of 2018, Poputchik was available on board 64 FPC’s branded trains.
