Novosibirsk Ticket Office Charges 55 Rubles for Toilet Use
A toilet in a ticket sales pavilion near the Novosibirsk railway station now costs 55 rubles (about $1 at current rates) to use, even for passengers with bus tickets. The operating company claims the facility is not a bus station and thus not required to be free.
Mar 10, 2026 0
A Barnaul resident stated she used the toilet at this facility for free in a previous year.
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In Novosibirsk, Siberia, a toilet in a ticket sales pavilion next to the railway station has been made paid, with the price set at 55 rubles (about $1 at current rates). Even passengers with bus tickets cannot use it for free. The NGS news agency investigated why this happened.
The director of Avtobiliety clarified the 55-ruble fee was established by a company order.
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The lack of free toilet access was reported to NGS by a Siberian woman, Tatiana Gods diner, who was traveling from Novosibirsk to Barnaul, Siberia.
«I know there should be a free toilet at the bus station because I bought a ticket. I went there and it said: 55 rubles. The price is sky-high! Last year I was there and used it for free with my bus ticket, but this year they decided for some reason [not to allow it]. They told me the ticket no longer matters. The free toilet, they said, is at the railway station. Or they suggested I go to »Apelsin« (Orange). Even at »Grany Altaya« (a roadside complex) on the way to Barnaul you can go for free, and those toilets are all in marble! And Novosibirsk is a city of over a million, and here we have this! I even felt ashamed for your city,» Tatiana said.
The woman clarified that she had specifically studied the laws: any passenger has the right to free toilet use at any station. The Rules for the Transportation of Passengers and Luggage by Road state that a passenger has the right to free use of waiting rooms and toilets located in bus station buildings.
An NGS correspondent found that passengers can use the toilet for free at the railway station, as well as at the bus station located at Gusinobrodskoye Shosse, 37/2. However, at 67 Lenina Street, the cost for everyone is 55 rubles (about $1). This ticket office is owned by LLC «Avtobiliety» (transliteration).
According to RusProfile, LLC «Avtobiliety» was established in August 2013. The director is Yulia Prolyaeva. The founder is Igor Kudin (a deputy of the Novosibirsk City Council, chairman of the standing commission on budget and tax policy, and member of the standing commission on urban planning). Financial indicators at the end of 2024: revenue — 154 million rubles (about $1.71 million at current rates), net profit — 61 million rubles (about $677,800 at current rates).
An NGS correspondent contacted the director of LLC «Avtobiliety», Yulia Prolyaeva, for comment on the situation. She responded that the facility on the station square is not a bus station, but a ticket office.
«A bus station or bus stop at the specified address is not registered, which is confirmed by the register of stopping points for interregional and international regular transportation routes on the official website of the Russian Ministry of Transport,» journalist Yulia Prolyaeva reported.
The response also clarified that Russian Government Decree No. 1586 of October 1, 2020, does not require the provision of a free toilet at facilities that are not a bus station or bus stop.
The pavilion on Garin-Mikhailovsky Square began to be built by the company «Stalker» in 2021 as a structure to protect the descent into the underground passage from bad weather. Even during construction, the project caused controversy: at a meeting of the presidium of the architectural and urban planning council of the mayor«s office, architects criticized the pavilion.
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