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BTU calculates that suburban services accounted for 66.4% of train runs under Georgian Railway’s public-service contract in 2025 but generated only 1.4% of passenger revenue. As new trains are considered, this contrast shows why better intercity service and affordable everyday mobility must be planned together, rather than measured simply by the number of trainsets purchased.

Three key takeaways

• BTU’s aggregation of Georgia’s Rail Transport Agency data shows that suburban services represented 66.4% of runs, 33.9% of train-kilometres and 1.4% of passenger revenue under the 2025 public-service contract. Different distances and fares make this a comparison of service roles, not an efficiency ranking.
• In the agency’s 2025 passenger survey, 54% of suburban respondents and 16% of mainline respondents reported work/business as their journey purpose. The groups comprised 977 and 1,890 people respectively: passengers using the services when the survey was conducted.
• BTU calculates that GEL 31.27 million in passenger revenue covered 55.4% of GEL 56.40 million in recorded costs under the same 2025 contract. Fleet renewal therefore also needs an operating-finance plan that supports affordable fares and useful frequency together.

A new train can mean a more comfortable holiday journey between Georgian cities. It can also mean getting to work and returning home on time. Both passengers need reliable equipment, but the timetable, frequency and affordable fare that make the service useful may be quite different. A fleet-renewal decision should preserve that distinction, not obscure it.

Georgian Railway had already announced a plan to purchase ten trains in its official statement of May. These are plans and procurement preparations, not results from delivered equipment. BTU compared that current discussion with the Rail Transport Agency’s 2025 public-service report, which brings together routes, operations, revenue and passenger responses. The report supplies a baseline for judging renewal, not a newly released October dataset. [1,4,5]

Different services within one network

The public-service contract specifies services on designated routes, including frequency, rolling stock and train-kilometres. A train-kilometre is one kilometre travelled by a train regardless of how many people are on board. It is neither a passenger count nor a passenger-kilometre. The analysis concerns services within this contract, not Georgian Railway’s entire operation, freight business or consolidated financial performance.

The agency distinguishes mainline and suburban services. Its suburban category includes routes such as Tbilisi–Borjomi, Kutaisi–Batumi and Khashuri–Zestaponi, not merely journeys around the capital. “Suburban” here follows the official classification rather than a new geographical definition. BTU grouped route-level revenue accordingly and compared it with activity in the same categories.

Two service groups under the public service contract in 2025

Sources: Rail Transport Agency [1, 2]; grouped revenue totals and shares calculated by BTU. Full-year 2025; contracted services only. Sold/offered places is not segment occupancy.

Suburban services operated 7,635 runs, compared with 3,869 on mainline services, yet accounted for roughly one-third of train-kilometres. More numerous, shorter operations are not the same product as longer intercity journeys. Counting departures alone misses that difference; counting revenue alone misses the function of affordable access.

BTU’s route aggregation produces GEL 446,285 in suburban revenue and GEL 30,822,367 in mainline revenue. Together they reconcile exactly with the report’s GEL 31,268,652 total. The suburban group therefore generated 1.4% of passenger revenue. Understanding that share requires journeys, distance, tariffs and service conditions to be considered together. Their combination determines how much money ticket sales generate.

The report’s 2025 suburban tariff table lists fares predominantly between GEL 0.50 and GEL 2. The revenue distribution partly reflects that low-fare design. These historical tariffs help explain receipts in the corresponding year. The relevant point is that applying one commercial yardstick to every route would change the access objective: low receipts can reflect low fares as well as limited use. [1,2]

The passengers behind the services

Passenger responses give the financial contrast a practical meaning. The agency’s 2025 survey included 2,867 participants: 1,890 on mainline services and 977 on suburban services. Train staff distributed questionnaires, and completed forms were collected in sealed containers. This describes the purposes and experiences of people already using trains. A useful next step is to connect those responses with each route’s timetable and stops.

Work/business was the stated journey purpose of 54% of suburban respondents, compared with 16% of mainline respondents. Tourism/leisure was reported by 30% of mainline and 9% of suburban respondents. The contrast is substantial, but mainline passengers should not all be described as tourists: the largest mainline response category was unspecified “other”, at 38%. The evidence identifies different service roles, not two wholly separate populations. [1]

Those roles matter to employers, local service businesses, educational institutions and households. A train used for work needs a timetable that fits the beginning and end of a working day. A visitor may place greater weight on a comfortable intercity journey and travelling with luggage. Each requirement belongs in service planning: passengers need to be able to arrive and return at useful times.

If investment follows only the highest-revenue routes, affordable everyday mobility may become secondary. Conversely, assigning the same equipment and schedules everywhere without considering journey purposes can leave new resources poorly matched to users. The useful choice lies between these extremes: identify where more seats are needed, where a differently timed service matters, and where reaching the station is the obstacle.

Why is one utilisation number insufficient

The agency reports that sold places as a proportion of offered places reached 83% on mainline services in 2025 and 45% on suburban services. In August, the figures were 98% and 56%. A network-wide average therefore cannot replace analysis by service group and season. However, this measure is not the proportion of seats occupied on every segment of the journey, nor a complete measure of economic efficiency. [1]

A lower ratio is a reason to investigate timetables, stops, the number of places offered and passengers’ needs. It is not an automatic case for cancellation. Equally, high summer utilisation does not establish that the same additional seating will be needed throughout the year. Buying equipment and deploying it across seasons are related but separate decisions.

The latest available quarterly statistics reinforce the need to distinguish investment needs from realised traffic growth. Geostat’s 19 August release shows that total railway passenger journeys fell 0.5% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, while domestic journeys fell 3.4%. These figures provide separate context from a different period and broader statistical scope: renewal plans also need to be assessed against actual changes in traffic. [3]

A new fleet still needs daily funding

Purchasing rolling stock begins a long operating commitment. Services continue to require staff, maintenance, electricity and infrastructure access. For 2025, the contract report records GEL 31.27 million in passenger revenue against GEL 56.40 million in direct, indirect and infrastructure costs. BTU calculates revenue-to-cost coverage of 55.4%, with a difference of GEL 25.13 million.

That difference is not automatically compensation owed or left unpaid by the government. Compensation has its own formula, caps and reporting conditions. Nor does the comparison measure the whole railway company’s loss. The essential point is that these contracted passenger services are not financed solely by ticket receipts. An investment decision therefore needs an accompanying account of how the chosen frequency and affordable fares will be supported after delivery. [1,2]

For passengers, renewal should be visible not only in a new carriage interior but in the ability to make a useful journey. For businesses, predictability of employee and customer access matters; for a region, the issue is a connection to another city that people can actually use. Assessing those outcomes requires route-level schedules, reliability, use and financing to be considered together. High revenue does not exhaust public value, while a social purpose does not remove the need for transparent reporting.

Renewal of Georgia’s passenger rail services should support both better intercity travel and affordable everyday connections. BTU’s comparison shows that the existing system already delivers these functions through substantially different arrangements. Renewal should be judged by how well equipment, timetables and funding match those needs, not simply by how many trainsets are bought.

Questions and answers

Why does a 1.4% revenue share not imply an unimportant service?

It is the suburban share of passenger revenue within the 2025 public-service contract, not a share of social value. Low fares limit receipts even when passengers use a service to reach work.

Should every suburban service therefore remain unchanged?

The data do not establish that either. Each route needs assessment of its timetable, use and alternative connections. Revenue and sold-place ratios are inputs to that assessment, not its only criteria.

Does 55.4% cost coverage mean ticket prices must rise?

No. This is BTU’s comparison of recorded 2025 revenue and costs, not a tariff decision or forecast. Funding arrangements and service objectives require separate decisions.

What should passengers expect from the renewal plan?

Clear information about the frequency, timetable, accessibility and service quality to be provided on each route. A plan to buy ten trains does not itself confirm a particular additional departure, fare change or shorter journey time.

BTUAI Research Metadata

Research type

Secondary analysis of public administrative data and comparative research on passenger-service economics.