Published: 31 January, 2008, 06:27
Edited: 31 January, 2008, 06:27
The underground railway system in the Ukrainian capital Kiev serves up to two million passengers daily. At rush hour the network is overwhelmed and the only way to get people onto trains is to have someone to shove them inside.
Vladimir Nazdrukov helps pack people into trains when he's free from his main job as an electrician. No special training is needed, he says, just patience and tolerance.
“In Japan pushers are used as well. There's no other way here too. They can't build new carriages because the railway is too narrow,” says Valery Derugin, subway passenger.
Pusher in the Ukrainian capital Kiev's metro
Those tired of waiting decide to catch the train in the opposite direction to take an empty seat at the terminal station.
“People look like chopped meat in these jams. It's disrespectful to have these pushers pressing and packing us as if we were meat. It's amoral,” says Ivan Kruchkovsky, subway passenger.
The attendants though try to be as helpful and unobtrusive as they can. Wearing a special uniform, they feel safer now. Without it, some passengers thought they were pickpockets and would hit them back.
So plans to read a morning paper or grab a coffee on way to work in the Kiev underground can be forgotten. You have to fight for a ride and there are people who will help you in the battle.