Ilgar Mammadov, a founding member of the Republican Alternative (REAL) Party has criticized arguments in favor of raising Baku Metro fares, saying higher ticket prices would fail to address the system’s underlying financial problems and would only deepen the economic burden on passengers.
Commenting on reports that the metro ended last year with a 139 million manat loss, Mammadov noted that the figure might be divided by the 230 million passengers carried annually to justify a fare increase.
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“The message is simple: if each passenger paid 1 manat instead of 40-50 gapiks, the metro would break even,” he wrote.
According to Mammadov, this logic is fundamentally flawed.
He argues that any fare increase would be passed on indirectly through the economy: passengers would try to compensate for higher transport costs by demanding higher wages or raising prices for their own goods and services. As a result, overall prices would rise again – and the metro would still operate at a loss, even with higher fares.
“This price spiral only proves one thing,” Mammadov said. “The incomes of the population are not sufficient to sustain such an expensive public service.”
He warned that the situation is even more serious than it appears. According to official data, the metro receives around 150 million manats annually from passenger fares and state support combined, while its total expenses reach 300 million manats. Nearly half of those costs, he noted, come from infrastructure and asset depreciation.
This, Mammadov argues, points to a looming structural problem: as the metro system ages, losses driven by worn-out infrastructure will only increase in the near future.
He dismissed claims that better management alone could solve the issue.
“The government believes that fixing metro management will fix everything,” he wrote. “With these numbers? It won’t. Even bringing in a ‘super manager’ would change nothing.”
According to Mammadov, the root of the problem lies elsewhere – in low household incomes.
“Until government policy raises incomes and creates real wealth, the metro will remain an economic burden for ordinary citizens – a service the population simply cannot afford,” he said.
