South Caucasian Railway Resumes Yerevan-Gyumri-Yerevan High-Speed Electric Train Services

Starting June 5, the South Caucasian Railway company will resume the operation of intercity express electric trains on the Yerevan-Gyumri-Yerevan route. The services had been canceled since March 27 of this year due to a state of emergency declared in Armenia and a sharp reduction in passenger transport.

The current decision by the company is motivated by a certain recovery in demand for intercity rail passenger transport and aims to stimulate tourist flows between Yerevan and Gyumri. However, the long-term operation of the express train between the two major cities of the republic will depend on the pace of recovery in demand for this service.

It should be noted that due to the implementation of anti-epidemic measures in the Republic of Armenia, from March of this year, a significant reduction in passenger transport volumes has been recorded in the South Caucasian Railway sector. As a result, international train services on the Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan route were canceled starting March 14. Consequently, the number of passengers on this train for the first five months of this year decreased by 56.5% compared to the same period in 2019.

Due to the cancellation of the Yerevan-Gyumri express trains, the number of passengers on that route during the reporting period decreased by 64%. The passenger flow on regular electric trains operating on the Yerevan-Gyumri-Yerevan route has decreased by up to 15%. The number of passengers on Yerevan-Araks electric trains has decreased by 18%. Only a positive dynamic (+2.8%) has been recorded on the Yerevan-Yeraskh route, which is attributed to the cancellation of intercity bus routes within the framework of quarantine measures by the Armenian government.

In general, the decrease in the number of passengers across all railway directions during the first five months of the current year compared to the same period in 2019 has been 17.7%. The South Caucasian Railway continues to strictly implement the preventive and anti-epidemic measures set forth by the curator, including temperature checks for passengers, disinfection and cleaning of rolling stock, availability of disinfectants in the wagons, and monitoring compliance with social distancing and the wearing of masks and gloves by passengers.

During the last week of May, the government commission carried out ongoing monitoring of the passenger complex of the company and noted compliance with the measures taken in accordance with the curator's decisions.