A district court in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk has ordered a commuter railroad operator to pay 7,500 rubles ($230) in compensation for moral damage that a passenger suffered during a rush hour ride.
The passenger filed a lawsuit in February 2012, saying that on October 31, 2010, he bought a commuter train ticket and had to spend more than two hours in the train’s crowded vestibule as he was unable to get inside a passenger car. He complained of being unable to breathe normally as well as of “physical and moral suffering” he sustained when other passengers were swearing, pushing and stepping on his feet.
Before filing the lawsuit, the plaintiff wrote numerous complaints to the region’s transportation authorities and the company. He found out that on that day the train had four cars instead of eight required by the railroad operator’s schedule.
The judge ruled that the railroad operator had failed to provide the passenger with safe and quality services and ordered it to pay compensation, said Natalya Mishanina, a spokeswoman for the district court.
The plaintiff initially demanded 50,000 rubles ($1,550), but was awarded a compensation of only 7,500 rubles.
“The company will not appeal the court ruling and pay the compensation in full,” said a spokesman for Krasprigorod, a subsidiary of Russia’s railway monopoly RZD.