Moscow’s famously bad customer service is about to get better – at least underground.
The Metro says it is going to train its cashiers to be friendlier. They will be given instructions telling them how to communicate with customers. Cashiers in the metro have a particularly bad reputation for being rude.
The metro management also plans to fight queues in the underground. At the beginning of next year, special ticket machines will be rolled out across all stations.
It has also promised that more trains would be operating in the Moscow Metro during rush hour. Waiting times will be reduced by five to ten seconds in the morning. The aim is to combat overcrowding by slashing the number of passengers in each subway car by 10 per cent.
The Moscow subway system will also become an easier ride for foreigners, as the head of the underground has ordered that all signs be translated into English. Currently foreign tourists and expats can only see transliterated versions of the names of metro stations in Latin letters on maps in the subways cars. The signs on platforms and underpasses are currently not translated, making it difficult to find one’s way in the wide net of underground stations and exits.