These local trains are, of course, overstaffed, they are usually very short (to the point of being ridiculously short - see the image above) and the revenues are next to nothing, so I guess they must be deep in loss. Or maybe not. After all, the salaries in Georgia are not very big (though railway workers do have a decent one for Georgian standards) and there is no maintenance to speak of - whether of the engines and carriages or the tracks and infrastructure. The bridges are dilapidated, the tracks are all but breaking apart and although all tracks in Georgia are electrified (legacy of the Soviet regime obsessed with electrification, which, in hindsight, appears very environmentally friendly, quite unusual for Soviets), the equipment and infrastructure is barely stitched together with some very ad hoc and unusual measures, and definitely on the point of collapsing (or even past that) - see the image below. These "stumps", not real poles, are actually quite common and about every 10th is that bad. The other "full" poles are also not in a good condition, sometimes having been mended over and over and over.
The mainline trains are not much faster, either. A train from Kutaisi to Zugdidi takes 3.5 hrs and costs 2 lari, whereas marshrutka takes anywhere between 1.5 and 3 hrs (depending how 'local' it is) and costs 7 lari. It's about 100 km. The long distance trains feature similar average speed, around 36 kph (23 mph).
Since it is allowed to smoke in all trains (near the exits), the slow speed means there is almost no draft and the whole train soon enough becomes obnoxiously smoky.
But then there are two really fast trains which cover the distance from Tbilisi to Poti and Makhinjauri (Batumi) in 4:15 and 4:45, respectively. Beats me. Takes at least twice as long if you take regular overnight or daily train. The price of overnight trains is very varied - there is the cheap one from Zugdidi, where 3rd class padded benches for sleeping cost 5.50, 2nd class couchettes with sheets cost 11 and (now get this!) regular seats cost 14 lari! Regular seats on daily trains cost 6 lari. Bus or marshrutka comes to 12 - 15 lari. The result is the demand for train from Zugdidi to Tbilisi is huge (you need to buy ticket about a week in advance) yet the railway sends out only 4 carriages for sleeping and 2 with seats!
The overnight tickets from Kutaisi to Tbilisi cost 10 lari, even though Kutaisi is 2/3 of the way to Zugidi. It's the same price as marshrutka.
And the tickets from Batumi are terribly expensive, peaking at 40 lari, although it is little farther from Tbilisi than Zugdidi itself.
