Russian Railways started fighting fake children's tickets

Russian Railways (RZD) has officially confirmed that it has begun to combat the use of fake children's tickets to buy out entire compartments. Since the beginning of July, passengers have been able to purchase tickets for non-existent children in order to avoid unwanted fellow travelers. Now, the Federal Passenger Company (FPC) is returning such seats to sale.

According to the new rules, if preferential tickets for children are not used, passengers must pay the full cost or the seats will be put up for sale. The decision has raised many questions and disputes among passengers.

Some social media users express dissatisfaction, pointing to possible problems. For example, what if the child for whom the ticket was issued boards the train later than the parents? The FPC assures that in this case, the train manager is obliged to provide a similar seat, but how this will be implemented in practice is not yet clear.

Passengers' opinions are divided: some believe that the new rules deprive them of comfort, while others support the idea that seats should be available for real travelers. Some commentators note that in high season, tickets for popular destinations are sold out instantly, and buying a ticket for a child who boards the train later may become a problem.

Passengers are already reporting the first cases of the application of the new rules. For example, on one train, the train manager demanded a surcharge for an unused child's ticket, while in another case, no one approached a passenger who was traveling alone in a compartment with three children's tickets.

The new system will apparently operate mainly on short routes and during periods of low demand. However, on long routes, such as Moscow – Vladivostok, the situation may be more complicated, as tickets may be sold several times for different sections of the route.

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