The head of railways in Ukraine has apologised to passengers — for only having nine in ten of services run ON TIME yesterday.
Alexander Kamyshin took to Twitter this morning (February 21) to reveal some details on how the visit of US President Joe Biden impacted the running of his nation’s railways. President Biden was in Kyiv yesterday, the 362nd day of the war, to visit Ukraine’s President Zelensky.
The visit, combined with the vast destruction caused by the war, impacted rail services in the country but 90 percent of trains were still running as scheduled. The news has prompted one northern MP to compare the Ukrainian situation with the state of services in Britain.
“Out of 24 hours, president Biden spent 20 on the train (both directions), and only 4 in Kyiv,” Mr Kamyshin said. “That's why it was important for us to care about him in a proper way. And we did.
“I also want to apologise for breaking our OTP (On Time Performance) yesterday. We had to delay some of our trains to give way to Rail Force One [which Mr Biden travelled on].
“It was painful for me and my team, but I had to do that. So only 90 percent of our trains arrived on time yesterday. I apologize.”
It’s led Charlotte Nichols, the Labour MP for Warrington North, to ask if the UK could employ Mr Kamyshin after the war is over to help get our trains ship-shape. Passengers have faced months of rail misery, due to a combination of staffing issues, strikes, and timetable changes.
“I asked the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK yesterday if, after the war is over and a just peace secured, they could send Alexander and others over to the UK so we can learn from them,” Ms Nichols tweeted. “Imagine TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and others 'only' having 90 percent running on time!”
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