Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing pre-school children to travel free of charge in electric trains.

“It seems expedient to bring to uniformity the norm on free travel, giving passengers the right to carry children up to and including 7 years of age free of charge in electric trains (suburban trains) without providing a separate place (for sitting) by analogy with urban transport”, – stated in the explanatory note to the bill.

Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, commenting on the law, noted that “in fact, the solution of the issue of free travel on suburban trains depends entirely on the capabilities of the regions.”

“Now only 48 subjects of the Federation provide for partial fare payment for children from 5 to 7 years old. They are given a discount from 50 to 75% of the current tariff. Where there is no such benefit, parents are forced to pay in full. This is unfair to families with small children,” Volodin said.