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Railway investigates case of passenger ‘ride-sharing’ from St. Petersburg to Moscow

The man booked a car seat through BlaBlaCar but was greeted by a train engineer, who put him in the compartment to "drive" him to Moscow

© Peter Kovalev/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, July 18. /TASS/. The Oktyabrskaya Railway, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, is investigating reports that a passenger who wanted to get to Moscow from St. Petersburg by booking a seat through the BlaBlaCar carpooling app, was greeted at a railway station by a train engineer, who took him to his destination in the driver’s compartment, the railway’s press service told TASS on Thursday.

"The reports on this case will be investigated," the press service noted.

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Earlier on Thursday, the Baza news outlet published an article describing the story of a Moscow citizen who was planning to return home from St. Petersburg on July 15. To do so, he booked a car seat through BlaBlaCar and paid 1,300 rubles for it ($20).

According to the outlet, he was contacted by the alleged car owner and suggested that they head to St. Petersburg’s Moskovsky Rail Terminal. There, the man was greeted by the train engineer, who put him in the compartment to "drive" him to Moscow.

It is also noted that the man was not alone - another person who had booked his seat through BlaBlaCar was also travelling along.

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