Vyacheslav Mikailovich Martynenko
General Director, Primoravtotrans
Russian Federation
International bus routes between Russia and China
(speaking notes)
Development of trans-border trade between Russia and China as well as migration processes in the Far East have triggered sustainable growth of international bus operations since the mid-90-s. Overall bus passenger flow between Russia and China exceeds 2.4 millions annually, that is about 20 per cent of the total bus passenger traffic between Russia and foreign countries. From 1993 to 2007 passenger flows both to and from China increased by more then 80 times.
International bus operations between Russia and China in the Primorsky Region started in 1993 when the Suy Fegnhe – Pogranichny link (25 km) was launched. At present there 11 regular international bus routes with terminals in Russia and China: «Ussurijsk-Yangtze » (245 км), « Ussurijsk -Jixi» (307 км), « Ussurijsk –Mou Danjian» (296 км), «Vladivostok-Harbin» (740 км).
First both irregular and regular operation coexisted on these routes. But pretty soon irregular operations proved to economically unviable as they were organised in a chaotic manner by predominantly private companies which did not meet requirement for international bus operations neither in terms of service quality nor in terms of road safety. For this reason in 2000 in coordination with the Chinese side almost all international passenger operations passing by all the road border crossings within Primorsky Region were put on a regular basis.
Primorskavtotrans JSC started its international operations against the background of an economic crisis in Russia. Fast growing international passenger flows allowed our Company to improve its financial situation and consequently to renew completely the bus fleet by replacing obsolete vehicles with comfortable Korean and Chinese coaches, to build and bus stations, to enlarge its production basis.
In order to provide high quality service to Russian passengers in PRC, Primorskavtotrans JSC and its Chinese partners, in addition to launching operations opened on reciprocal basis their offices which were subsequently used for provision of shared services. The objective of this exercise was to organise international bus operations, organisation of departure of Russian and Chinese passengers, protection of passengers' interests and to provide them with advisory assistance. Our Chinese partners are very helpful in this regard.
Barriers to provision of high quality services to passengers travelling between Russia and China:
- Both countries only sell one way tickets regardless operator's nationality.
- Inadequate growth of road border crossings capacity. Customs and border formalities often depend on respective country's immediate interests. Border crossings should operate for at least 14 hours without days-off.
- Inadequate personal safety of foreign citizens.
- More budget hotels are needed for Chinese citizens coming to Russia. Primorskavtotrans JSC has some experience in this regard.
Prospects of international bus operation development by the Primorskavtotrans JSC:
- Launching coach tours (on ad hoc basis) to faraway Chinese regions: Dalian, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Beijing.
- Launching transit operations via China to Korean Peninsular, as well as to Eastern Siberia and Trans-Baikal Territory.
- Further improvement of service quality, purchasing new comfortable coaches.
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