On 14 April 2011, the international conference Role of Railway Transport in European Tourism Development, organised by Business Dialogue with the assistance of the N.I. Borodina Russian Centre in Merano and official support from OJSC Russian Railways, opened in the Italian town of Merano.

This was the first specialised forum focusing on railway tourism in Europe. During the conference, the participants discussed various issues, including the role of railway transport in international transportation and strategic directions and prospects for its further development. The participants in the conference paid close attention to expansion of sales of Russian tourist destinations and routes in Europe.

At the opening ceremony, Hans Berger, Vice-President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, welcomed all the participants and noted that railway transport cooperation between Russia and Italy has become a well-established tradition: the St. Petersburg – Merano route has been in place for over 100 years. Mr. Berger emphasised that the ties between the two countries were of particular importance for the tourist industry: in recent years, Italy has seen a significant increase in the number of Russian tourists visiting the country.

New projects for developing Russian-Italian cooperation were mentioned by Alexei Meshkov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Italy. He drew particular attention to the Moscow – Nice route, saying that tourism was important not only for this region but also for the countries through which the route runs.

During the conference, OJSC RZD Vice-President Mikhail Akulov announced RZD’s plans for reducing travel time on the Moscow – Nice route. “Our current objective is to reduce the travel time on this route from 52 to 44 hours”, said the company’s top manager. The train route runs through seven countries: Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and France. According to Mr. Akulov, the following countries are in the greatest demand with passengers: France (46%), Italy (26%), and Austria (19%). Direct routes from stations in Russia and Belarus account for most of the passenger traffic - about 90%. The high level of comfort and service on the trains also attracts the passengers travelling on short routes within Europe, these accounting for over 10%.

Mikhail Akulov also outlined RZDs plans for launching a new train on the Moscow – Berlin – Paris route. The plan is to develop the train schedule so that the train will leave Moscow in the morning and arrive in Paris the following evening, requiring passengers to spend only one night on the train. According to Mikhail Akulov, RZD is planning to organise international train routes based on Talgo trains.

Vincenzo Soprano, Executive Director of Trenitalia, drew attention to the factors influencing passengers’ choice of transportation for their tourism travel. “Railway transport is a stable, environmentally friendly kind of transportation, giving passengers a great number of advantages”, said Mr. Soprano. He also noted that exchange of tourism products allows railway transportation to be developed.

In his speech, Stasys Dailydka, General Director of JSC Lithuanian Railways, said that Lithuania was interested in tourism development. The country is actively developing the tourist industry and one of the leading segments of mass tourism is recreation and leisure on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

At the conference, RZD Travel and N.I. Borodina Russian Centre Merano signed an Agreement of Intent for Cooperation in Modern Development of Railway Tourism between Italy and Russia. Railway transport is a convenient type of transportation, with great potential for developing tourist transportation. In the South Tyrol, an excursion package for tourists has already been developed. There is considerable interest on the part of the local population in travelling to Russia by train. Small tourist companies are also planning to join this union. The agreement was signed by General Director of RZD Travel Alexander Shamshiev, and Director of N.I. Borodina Russian Centre in Merano Andrey Pruss.

Within the scope of the conference, a press conference was held with Vladimir Yakunin, President of OJSC Russian Railways, and Hans Berger, Vice-President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. Vladimir Yakunin noted that, to attract people to railway travel, RZD is planning to introduce a series of bonus programmes. For the purpose of developing its tourism business, RZD has already incorporated a subsidiary, whose shareholders are the RZD Pension Fund and a private investor. The company will have tourism offers for passengers.

Mr. Yakunin said that RZD would offer its passengers an opportunity to travel with their own cars. So far, this will only be possible on one route - Moscow - Helsinki. Three freight train carriages have already been converted to transport cars. The possibility of transporting three to five cars in each carriage of the Leo Tolstoy train (Moscow - Helsinki) is currently under consideration.

Part of the conference consisted of the photo exhibition Russia Through a Train Window. It is a joint project implemented by RZD and the photographer Anton Lange. The purpose of the project is to show the Russia of the 21st century and various aspects of the country’s life and society in photos, providing a fresh new look at its unique geographical features.

The exhibition was opened by President of OJSC RZD Vladimir Yakunin. The ceremony was attended by Vice-Governor of the Province of Bolzano Hans Berger and Mayor of Merano Yanut Gunter.

Within the scope of the forum, Senior Vice-President of RZD Valeriy Reshetnikov announced the joint plans of OJSC Russian Railways and the ECH Group to sell its stake in Energopromsbyt, a major shareholder in TGK-14, in 2011. RZD owns 51% of Energopromsbyt; the remaining 49% is owned by the ECH Group. Energopromsbyt’s share in TGK-14 is 76.92%.