Elena Emelina, the head of control and audit department of SUE Gorelectrotrans, told in her speech about the main goal of the enterprise. “We must ensure that the quality of service is such that the automobilist will make a change for a public transport. First of all, the competitive advantages should be speed characteristics, reliability, comfort, cost,” she said. According to her, to improve the quality, all new trains will be equipped by Gorelectrotrans with the systems for counting passenger traffic. Now the cost of such systems is not more than 20% of the trains cost. “They are used to control the actual fare payment and to understand the total number of passengers, rush hour congestion, and the like,” said Elena Emelina.

In addition, all new trains will be equipped with external cameras, including those that can rotate 360 degrees. And such equipment will not be installed on old cars, including air conditioners, because “we need a reasonable approach, they will attain their age.”

A lot of attention during the round table was paid to services for people with disabilities and people with low mobility in the subway and public transport. Elena Emelina noted with regret that not all urban electric transport is suitable for people with low mobility and disabilities. According to her, the situation in ground transport is good with trolleybuses, of which almost 90% are low-floor, while 30% of streetcars are low-floor. But with the appearance of new cars and trains the situation should change.

Anton Grishin, the head of the passenger mobility department of St. Petersburg Subway SUE, said that the subway now has a good system of support for people with disabilities. “The main obstacles are, of course, stairs and escalators, where people need help in the first place,” Anton Grishin explained. According to him, 1.5 thousand passengers are helped by the subway a day. “There are no such figures even in Moscow, where assistants have to be ordered in advance, at least that was the case until recently. In our case, if an employee is on site, he or she will help immediately. If he/she went to help the passenger who came earlier, it is necessary to wait just a little bit, and we meet the standard of the Ministry of Transport in 10 minutes,” proudly said the representative of the subway.

He also explained that the problems with the accessibility of the subway are connected with the fact that General Board of State Expert Review (Glavgosekspertiza) often approves construction and reconstruction projects, which do not include elements of improvement for people with low mobility. “Ideally, of course, it should be different, and everything should be built with long ramps and elevators,” said Anton Grishin, adding that seminars should be held to explain the need to develop such infrastructure.