Moscow Metro goes digital to refund lost trips

Passengers of the Moscow Metro can now claim for refund or replacement for the trips they’ve lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak. There will be no time limit for the refund, and each case will be considered individually.

On June 9, the self-isolation regime in Moscow was relieved. Public transport became accessible to all Muscovites, and all types of fare payment are available. Moreover, the Moscow Metro announced that all trips remained unused due to a two month-long coronavirus outbreak will be refunded. The Moscow Metro is the most popular mode of transportation in the city. Its normal ridership before COVID-19 reached up to 9 mln passengers daily. Therefore, the Moscow Metro believes that this solution would become a relief for many of those, who were wondering if there would be something to do with their lost trips.

Since June 12, 2020 all passengers, who have not used public transport during the lockdown, can apply for refund. All types of tickets, including those for 60 rides, 30/90/365 days passes and social card with discounted fare are for refund. A ticket is considered for a refund if there were not more than 22 trips made with this ticket between March 30 — June 8, 2020. Passengers receive the exact number of unused trips or traveling days of the mentioned period. A refund is available at any Moscow Metro ticket office, ticket machine or even in a mobile app.

Technologies and safety In the Moscow Metro app (iOS and Android) passengers can check the number of trips or traveling days available for a refund. Moreover, Android devices equipped with NFC can be used to refund online. Any questions can be addressed to the service office, the Moscow Transport website or the @MosCardCheckBot in Telegram messenger. Moreover, those failed to claim for the refund will be granted with 2 free tickets cost 200 rubles.

«We anticipated a large number of requests for tickets replacement option, and that it might cause queues at Metro’s ticket offices. Bearing that in mind, we’ve added a new function to our Moscow Metro App that allows passengers to claim replacement for their lost trips and to write it back on their „Troika“ smart-cards right away. It helped us to keep the process smooth when thousands of people came back to work», — the Moscow Metro press-office said.

The invalid trips will be refunded starting on the day of a request, and that is why the Moscow Metro also suggests passengers to wait until they need these trips. The refund period is unlimited. Thus, for instance, students, who have already finished their academic year, can ask for a refund in September, when they are back to school. If it was a graduation year, they can still claim for refund — their student card will be reactivated for the period it remained unused during the pandemic.

Passengers around the globe World leading metro operators are struggling to bring their passengers back to public transport. Despite the dramatic fall in ridership and revenues, metros are launching their refund programs. Every metro system is determined with its specific limitations and incentives.

Thus, TfL in London offers its commuters to claim for refund of their Oyster season pass for 7 Days, Monthly and Annual tickets within 8 weeks since last journey. New York offers an option of saving trips on long validity tickets like unlimited-ride MetroCard, pay-per-ride MetroCard and money saved with pre-tax commuter benefits program. Madrid has announced that it will compensate 30-days passes only. Paris, in its turn, offers a 100% compensation for the period April 1 — May 10 even if passenger used his ticket during this period because of work or other necessities. However, claims for refund are accepted only from May 20 until June 17. All these measures are aimed at bringing passengers back to public transport.

Matter of trust «Public transport operators around the globe have been affected by the pandemic. Daily ridership has decreased dramatically. Now it is very important for transport operators to bring passengers back, but it is impossible to make it without inspiring trust in their reliability. In the Moscow Metro we believe that what we do should make our passengers confident about their security. This, in some cases, can also become an example for international metro community as our colleagues are facing the same challenges», — the Moscow Metro press-office added.

The Moscow Metro has always been one of the cleanest. But when COVID-19 reached the Russian capital, the Moscow Metro increased daily disinfections routines on more than 900 thousand square meters of stations area. All passenger zones and ventilation shafts are disinfected regularly with hot air, all metro trains are cleaned and disinfected with UV-lamps before running, and all metro tunnels are washed using a strong disinfecting agent. Air filters in metro trains with built-in air conditioning are changed twice as often.

Major attention is paid to all passenger zones. Every 1.5-2 hours, handrails, turnstiles, entrance door handles and cash zones are disinfected, and more than 1.6 thousand ticket vending machines are washed each hour. Passengers are recommended to use contactless payment options. Protective masks and gloves can be purchased in stations. The price is fixed lower than a standard market price. The Moscow Metro has never stopped for a moment during the pandemic and now is fully available for its passengers.