OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2011. Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin attended the international conference The Role of Railways in the Development of European Tourism held in the Italian town of Merano. The conference was organised by the company Business Dialogue with support from Russian Railways and attended by Russia’s ambassador to Italy Alexei Meshkov, the Deputy Governor of Bolzano province Hans Berger, the CEO of Trenitalia Vincenzo Soprano, the Managing General of Lithuanian Railways Stasys Dailydka and representatives of other European railway administrations, reported the press-centre of RZD.

Yakunin addressed the conference’s plenary session with a speech on the development of international rail passenger services.

According to Yakunin, one of the Company’s priorities is rail tourism, which it intends to continue developing in the future.

Russian Railways nowadays offers tourists the chance to visit virtually any region of Russia by train, including tours along the Golden Ring, the Russian North, Karelia, Lake Baikal Railway, services from St. Petersburg to Moscow and retro-trips by historic steam train on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The Company is also planning special tours for newly-weds, who, together with their guests, can take their honeymoon on routes they choose themselves and in carriages decked out in festive fashion.

Addressing Hans Berger, the Deputy Governor of Bolzano province, Vladimir Yakunin expressed his thanks for the warm welcome extended to the passengers on the first run of the new Moscow - Nice service by the residents of Bolzano and representatives of the provincial administration. The new service began operating in September 2010 and passes through seven countries en route: Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and France.

Yakunin concluded his remarks with an invitation to the conference participants to come to Russia for a rail tour and enjoy the country’s scenic beauty from the train window.