Promotion of sports and healthy lifestyle

GRI 3–3

The Company has sports clubs to encourage our employees to exercise regularly. There are 606 sports clubs within our railway network, with 25,000 employees attending them. Russian Railways reimburses employee expenses for sports activities at third-party sports facilities. In 2024, around 68,000 workers took advantage of this option.

In 2024, we organised 14 corporate competitions, including Russian Railways employee championships in cross-country skiing, table tennis and badminton, chess, billiards, 8-a-side football, futsal, male and female volleyball, and ice hockey.

The Company implements Russian Railways’ Healthy Lifestyle Concept for 2020–2025, covering 9 focus areas:

  • living tobacco-free;
  • reducing alcohol consumption;
  • healthy diet at workplace;
  • doing more physical exercise;
  • maintaining mental health and well-being;
  • preventive medicine;
  • healthy working conditions;
  • raising awareness;
  • motivation.

In 2024, the Company held over 11,000 events as part of the Healthy Lifestyle Concept.

Russian Railways’ Healthy Lifestyle Week and Summer, Mental Health Week, and the Strong Health programme at children’s recreational camps have become traditional for the Company. We arranged 17 fitness tours to popular locations among employees, with about 300 people taking part.

Russian Railways has established the Healthy Lifestyle Agent movement. Healthy Lifestyle Agents are our employees who promote healthy lifestyle. Their primary task is to encourage employees to care about their health. Healthy Lifestyle Agents organise physical training and sports events, industrial gymnastics classes, lectures on healthy lifestyle, inform employees about the harm caused by alcohol and tobacco, and promote proper nutrition and stress prevention. In 2024, the total number of Healthy Lifestyle Agents across the Company exceeded 3,000 people.

To promote healthy lifestyle among our employees, we run a ProZdorovie blog on Russian Railways’ Service Portal, and Russian Railways’ Healthy Lifestyle Telegram channel (13,200 subscribers, and over 2 million views in 2024), featuring articles on staying healthy, challenges, and online meetings with doctors.

Our experience in promoting healthy lifestyle among employees was included in the Library of Corporate Employee Health Promotion Programmes.

Employees’ mental health

In March 2024, the psychological support hotline for Russian Railways’ employees and their family members resumed operation. The hotline includes a telephone number and the You are Not Alone chat bot. We conducted about 2,700 consultations with a total length of over 650 hours.

There are currently 148 functional and emotional relaxation rooms across the Company’s regions of operation, 30 of which opened in 2024 alone.

Russian Railways’ sports and healthy lifestyle excellence awards

For Russian Railways’ Year of Health (held in 2023):

  • Sustainable Development SOGAZ award in the Inspiring Initiative category;
  • Russia’s Best Social Projects Award 2024 in the Healthcare and Social Projects category;
  • 1st place in the 3rd All-Russian Award Organisation of Healthcare: Industry Leaders in the Public Projects: Creating the Industry’s Infosphere category;
  • status of Russia’s National Projects Partner within Our Contribution National Award;
  • Sustainable Development SOGAZ award in the Health as a Lifestyle category for Russian Railways’ Healthy Lifestyle Concept for 2020–2025;
  • 1st place in the 3rd National Corporate Sports Award in the Corporate Sports Event of the Year category for the LOCO. WE ARE TOGETHER sports festival;
  • 1st place in the Investments in the Development of a Healthy Country. Best Corporate Practices 2023 competition in the Development of Wellness Culture category for Russian Railways’ Healthy Lifestyle Concept;
  • 1st place in the Sports and Russia award in the Sports Team of the Year category with the LocoSummer family sports festival.
Russian Railways’ sports and healthy lifestyle excellence awards