“As of June 1, 2018, the demand for direct trains to the 11 host cities arriving on match days increased by 58 percent compared to the same period in 2017,” the spokesperson said, adding that the greatest demand for tickets was to Saransk, Samara, Kazan, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.

The company has scheduled additional trains between the host cities to meet the rising demand during the World Cup.

Russia will host the tournament from June 14 to July 15, with the games set to be held in Moscow, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi and Yekaterinburg.