The Moscow Region commuter train company MTPPK has achieved stunning success in multimodal transportation to Sheremetyevo Airport. It reported carrying "over a thousand" passengers to the airport since the beginning of the year, a Travel.ru correspondent marveled.
As a reminder, this involves transferring passengers arriving in Khimki by commuter train to a minibus to the airport for an extra 200 rubles. "The transfer is most popular among residents of Tver and Moscow," the carrier stated, although it refrained from providing specific, perhaps impressive, figures. However, some figures can now be calculated without the help of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
It's known that the aforementioned minibus makes about ten trips a day from Khimki to the airport and the same number back—a total of two dozen. Just over 100 days have passed since the beginning of the year, and just over 1,000 passengers have been transported. A little arithmetic shows that about 10 people use this popular service daily, or roughly half a passenger per minibus trip.
The official revenue from this vehicle, which is reportedly a Gazelle Next, therefore amounts to approximately 100 rubles per trip. Unfortunately, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation has not published data on fuel costs, driver salaries, rolling stock, or advertising expenses for this record-breaking multimodal service.
But it seems that this economics suits MTPPK quite well, given that the company has maintained the price at 200 rubles since last September. As a reminder, the minibus initially launched last June at an even more attractive price of 400 rubles (meaning, combined with a commuter train ticket, it was slightly more expensive than the Aeroexpress), but passengers, not realizing their good fortune, ignored the minibus. The price was quickly reduced to 300, and then to 200 rubles, which now allows for half a passenger per trip.
Meanwhile, as Travel.ru previously reported, a less pretentious and less advertised, but far more reliable and affordable, means of transportation has recently become available between Khimki Station and Sheremetyevo-2 Terminal F: bus 62k, departing every 15-20 minutes and taking half an hour for 35 rubles (30 rubles with the Strelka card). Its stop is located on the northeast side of Khimki Station. At the station, be careful—the "Bus to Sheremetyevo" signs point in the opposite direction, to the aforementioned minibus, which costs 200 rubles and runs every 90 minutes.
Source: travel.ru