‘The company handled 20.5% less freight in January-August 2009 than in the eight months of 2008,’ says President of Russian Railways Public Company Vladimir Yakunin.

‘In August, the output decrease only amounted to 12.3% against a year earlier, whereas our stone coal shipments even rose by 4.1%. What is more, our shipments of non-ferrous ore, granulated slag, slate stone, press cake, and fish increased as well,’ he notes.

‘As for the passenger turnover, this has gone down by 11% since the beginning of the year; this drop covers a 9% decrease in the number of long-distance passengers and a 16% decrease in the number of commuters. Nevertheless, the number of people traveling by train to the Black Sea went up by 4% compared with the last summer. As a matter of fact, the number of passengers heading for the south of Russia from Moscow went up by 10%, while the number of those who went to the Black Sea from Saint Petersburg rose by 9% compared with a year earlier. All in all, we transferred about 570,000 children (248,000 of whom traveled with us in August) this summer, and we saw to it that the quality of these trips was good,’ Yakunin says.