OREANDA-NEWS. Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, addressed the employees at the Company on the occasion of its fourth anniversary, congratulating staff and summarising the results.

Yakunin noted that “exactly 4 year ago, on 1 October 2003, Russian Railways began operations. Since then, the Company has fully satisfied the growing demand for shipments and transportation. Average daily volumes before the Company was formed were less than 3.3 million tonnes but are now over 3.7 million tonnes.”

According to the president of Russian Railways, freight volumes in that time has increased by over 26% and passenger numbers by 11.5%.

As a result of these high growth rates, the Company now accounts for a greater proportion of Russia’s transportation than before.

"Russian Railways now accounts for 86.4% of all freight traffic in Russia excluding by pipelines, up from 83.3% in 2003, and for 42.5% of passenger transport, up from 39.6%,” said Vladimir Yakunin.

Yakunin emphasised that social responsibility towards its staff and employees was very important to the Company. In the last 4 years, Russian Railways has more than doubled the wages of employees working directly on transportation to over 17,700 roubles in August 2007.