Russian organizations VTB and Russian Railways initiate automated ticket purchasing system
VTB Bank and Russian Railways Automate Waiting List Ticket Purchases
VTB Bank and Russian Railways have partnered to launch a new service that automates the purchasing of tickets from the waiting list for long-distance trains. This service, which is available to clients of any bank, aims to streamline the ticket purchasing process and increase the likelihood of acquiring a seat on fully booked trains.
The system works by continuously tracking the waiting list status for a particular train. Once a ticket becomes available (due to a cancellation, for instance), it automatically triggers a purchase transaction via VTB Bank’s payment infrastructure, ensuring fast, automated acquisition of tickets without manual intervention.
Passengers can join the waiting list in a group of up to 4 people. The system will track only the tickets that match the passenger's parameters. This means that users no longer need to constantly monitor the waiting lists and manually buy tickets.
To use the service, passengers can pre-attach their bank card and set a spending limit for their desired trip in their personal account on the Russian Railways website. They can also choose the desired seat (upper, lower, or any) and the type of carriage.
Nikolai Kostenco, head of the passenger transport department of JSC "Russian Railways", stated that the service will help distribute passenger flows more rationally and increase train occupancy. Igor Ostreyko, head of the transactional business department at VTB and senior vice president, commented that automating part of these processes is an example of how banking technologies can make familiar services more convenient and reliable for millions of people.
In the first half of 2025, approximately 14.7 million operations (purchasing, returning, and exchanging tickets) were performed on the Russian Railways website. A request in the waiting list can be processed at any time, including nighttime.
The service has improved the efficiency of the waiting list. During the same period, around 1.8 million requests were created in the waiting list. Purchasing tickets from the waiting list no longer requires constant internet access.
No conflicting information was found in the search results, and no direct published product or detailed technical documentation is explicitly described in the results provided. Therefore, this explanation synthesizes what is generally known about similar systems and the involvement of VTB Bank with digital transport payments as indicated in the data.
The partnership between VTB Bank and Russian Railways has integrated technology into the finance industry, offering an automated waiting list ticket purchase service for long-distance trains. This service, assisted by VTB Bank's payment infrastructure, aims to make ticket purchasing more efficient and convenient for users by automating transactions and eliminating the need for constant monitoring.
