The Meschansky District Court of the city of Moscow: provision of the train tickets does not prove the due performance of the transportation agreement

The Meschansky District Court of the city of Moscow considered a case of the claim of two passengers against the Open Joint-Stock Company “Federal Passengers’ Company” (hereinafter – FPC OJSC). Partner, Advocate Alexander Bolomatov of the Law Firm "YUST" and Associate of the Firm Maxim Smirnov represented the claimants in court.

Genadi Goldenberg and Anna Yakovleva purchased tickets to the Moscow – Paris train, but the carrier, FPC OJSC, failed to deliver them to their destination due to a locomotive damage. Later, FPC OJSC refused to compensate the passengers for the transportation costs, believing that it had duly performed its obligations under the transportation agreement. The respondent explained its refusal by alleging the existing international agreement of carriers between the EU and the CIS countries (East-West Tariff) and the Special terms of transportation in international trains of the FPC OJSC formation on global prices (the Special terms), formed in accordance with that agreement.

The court dismissed the respondent’s argument that provision of tickets to a foreign carrier’s train is due performance of the transportation agreement. According to the position of the first instance court, the service that the claimants were entitled to count on was not rendered to the claimants duly and in full. The respondent’s allegations of the East-West Tariff norms and the Special terms, which prohibit compensation of the transportation payment to passengers for partially used tickets, were also ruled unfounded.

The Meschansky District Court of the city of Moscow took the arguments by the passengers’ attorneys into consideration and resolved the dispute following the norms of the Russian national legislation. The judgment, according to which FPC OJSC had to fully compensate the claimants for the distance not traveled by them because of the transporter, has entered into force.

See the case file here.