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Russian Train Driver Suspended After Picking Up BlaBlaCar Passengers on the Job

Artem Svetlov / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

We’ve all had our share of strange experiences with ride-sharing apps like Uber — but few can say they’ve been picked up by a train.

A Russian train driver has been suspended for picking up passengers via the BlaBlaCar ride-sharing app.

News of a Moscow-St. Petersburg train engineer giving rides in his cabin through the app sparked a state-run Russian Railways company probe last week. The French startup has blocked the train engineer’s account.

“Disciplinary sanctions have been issued to the engineer and his assistant who had violated official instructions. The engineer is currently suspended,” Russian Railways told the state-run TASS news agency Monday. 

Local media reported that at least one passenger paid 1,300 rubles ($20) for the ride.

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