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It's
easy to check train times for any journey in Russia,
Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the other ex-Soviet
republics, just use the form below, linked to www.poezda.net.
Remember to check the days of running of your train, as not
all long-distance services run daily. Look for trains
described as 'firmeny', which is the top quality category of
long-distance fast train, with the most modern coaches and a
high standard of on board service. Most Russian
long-distance trains have a restaurant car serving
inexpensive meals, snacks and drinks.
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Search
tips:
If
you are unsure of the spelling, use the first two or
three letters of the placename and the system will
prompt you with suggestions...
Moscow
= 'Moskva', St
Petersburg = 'Sankt-Peterburg', Kiev =
'Kiev', Ulan Bator = 'Ulan-bator', Beijing
= 'Pekin', Ekaterinberg = 'Sverdlovsk'.
In
the search results:
'Pass'
= slow ordinary passenger train
'Fast,
firm' = Fast 'firmeny' train. 'Firmeny' means
'top quality service' with modern coaches and a
restaurant car. Look for the firmeny trains
first.
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How to check fares within Russia:
Train fares in Russia are not expensive. If you
buy your ticket at the ticket office, Moscow-St
Petersburg on a top-quality 'firmeny' sleeper train such
as train 1/2 'Red Arrow' costs around 1,350 rubles
(£26 or $48) per person sharing a 4-berth kupé, or 2,600
rubles (£50 or $90) sharing a 2-berth spalny vagon.
On a lower quality Moscow-St Petersburg overnight train,
you can find kupé tickets for as little as 705 rubles
(£14 or $25), platskartny berths for 305 rubles (£6 or
$11). Russian train fares now vary by season, with
higher fares charged at Easter, New Year, July & August,
lower fares in January and February.
You can check fares online at the Russian Railways
website, www.rzd.ru. This is in Russian, but with a
little ingenuity and help from a translation website
such as
Google's language tools (which will now translate
Russian webpages into English) or
http://world.altavista.com/, you can use it to work
out fares, by making a timetable enquiry then clicking
on the train number.
In Russia, one child aged 0 to 4 travels free, children
aged 5 to 9 travel at half fare, children aged 10 and
over must pay full fare.
The three types of train...
There are three main
categories of long-distance train in Russia:
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Firmenny: These
are high-quality trains, often with a name such as 'Krasnaya
Strela' (Red Arrow) or 'Rossiya'. They have the
most modern carriages, often painted in that train's own
special colour scheme, usually air-conditioned and with
good on-board service. These are easily the best
trains to go for, although the fare is a little higher
than for other trains. They usually have
low-numbered train numbers such as '1', '8' or '10', and
they usually have a restaurant car serving drinks,
snacks and affordable complete meals. They
generally have spalny vagon 2-bed sleepers, kupé 4-bed
sleepers and sometimes but not always platskartny
open-plan dormitory sleepers. See below for a
description of classes.
-
Skory: Express
train. These usually have spalny vagon 2-berth
sleepers, kupé 4-berth sleepers and platskartny
sleepers, and many have a restaurant car. They
normally have one or two-digit train numbers, for
example '11' or '26'. Cheaper than travelling on a
Firmenny train.
-
Passazhirsky:
Ordinary passenger train, often relatively slow and
usually using older carriages. They typically have
3-digit train numbers, for example '904'. They
usually have kupé 4-berth sleepers and platskartny, but
not usually spalny vagon 2-berth sleepers. The
cheapest option, but not the best!
The three classes of
accommodation...
Long-distance trains within Russia and the former
Soviet republics have three main classes, all designed
for both daytime and overnight travel given the
distances covered by many trains:
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2-berth compartments, 9 compartments per coach,
with both beds at the lower level either side of the
compartment. Washrooms and
toilets are at the end of the corridor. It's twice the
price of travelling kupé, although you get twice the
space per passenger, so it's recommended for those who
want extra privacy and space and who can afford it. SV is also known as 'myagky' or 'lyux'.
On the best 'firmenny' trains you can often buy tickets
with or without 'service', meaning with or without
bedding and meals included. In addition to the normal 2-berth sleepers, the best
Moscow-St Petersburg overnight train (the 'Krasnaya
Strela or 'Red Arrow') also has two deluxe sleeping-cars
with 1- & 2-bed compartments with private toilet and
shower and TV / DVD entertainment system. These
deluxe sleepers were introduced in 2004. |
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4-berth
compartments, 9 compartments per coach. Washrooms
and toilets are at the end of the corridor.
Kupé is recommended as the class chosen by most visitors to Russia.
On the best 'firmenny' trains you can often buy kupé
tickets with or without 'service', meaning with or
without bedding and meals included. |
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Open-plan dormitory
cars. There are 54 bunks
per coach, arranged in bays of 4 on one side of the
aisle and bays of 2 along the coach wall on the other
side of the aisle. Recommended for the most
budget-conscious and adventurous visitors. |
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Strictly-speaking, you'll
also find basic seats on some long distance trains and
on local or suburban trains, known as 'Obshchi', but
this isn't intended for long-distance travel and is not
recommended. There are now a number of daytime
expresses between cities such as Moscow and St
Petersburg, and these have comfortable airline-style
seating in ordinary and 'business' classes rather than
the sleeper-based classes described above. |
Right:
A very comfortable 2-berth 'spalny wagon' compartment on a quality
'firmeny' train, in this case the Moscow-Vladivostok
'Rossiya'. |
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Right:
Kupé class. Lockable 4-berth
compartments. This is an older train - newer
coaches have more modern compartments. On the best
'firmeny' trains, kupé compartments are like the
'spalny vagon' compartment shown above, but with upper
as well as lower berths.
(Far
right) Platskartny class. There are 54 bunks per
coach, arranged open-plan in transverse bays of 4 (at left of
photo) and longitudinal bays of 2 above and below the
window (right of photo). |
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Life
on board Russian trains...
Whichever
class of travel you choose, each coach is looked after by a
pair of attendants called a 'provodnik' (male) or 'provodnitsa'
(female). The provodnik will check your ticket at the
door to the sleeper when you board. Shortly after
departure, the provodnik will come round to take your ticket
and the small bedding fee (less than £1). You may be
asked if you would like a glass of black Russian tea ('chai')
- this costs about 15p. Bedding (two sheets,
pillowcase and towel) is then handed out in sealed packs -
blankets and mattresses will already be stacked in your
compartment. After a few journeys, you will become
quite proficient at making up your bed..!
A samovar with unlimited free hot water is available at the
end of the corridor - pack some tea or coffee, sugar, cuppa
soups or water-based drinking chocolate and bring your own
mug. Most long distance trains have a restaurant
car serving drinks, snacks, and inexpensive full meals -
reckon on less than £5 for two courses and a couple of
bottles of beer.
Security:
There is no particular need to worry about security on
Russian trains, as long as you use common sense, exactly as
you would in a hotel, locking your
door at night and not leaving valuables unattended in your
compartment. In addition to the normal lock on the
compartment door, 'Spalny Wagon' and 'kupé' compartments
have a security latch which stops the door opening more than
an inch or two, and which cannot be released from outside.
There's also a safe place for your bags at night - if you
have a bottom bunk, there is a metal box underneath the bunk
which you can only get to by lifting up the bunk - in other
words, for anyone to get to your bags, they will have to
shift you off your bunk first..! Your provodniks will
probably also lock the access doors at each end of the
corridor at night to prevent unwanted guests. Men and
women share the same compartments in Russia, but it's
generally quite safe even for women travelling alone (many
Russian women travel alone, after all!). If you're a
woman and find yourself in sharing with three men that make
you uncomfortable, just ask the provodniks (carriage
attendants) if they can move you.
A new
privately-run luxury train, the 'Grand Express' started
running overnight between St Petersburg and Moscow, in
addition to the normal Russian sleeper trains (which include
train 001/002, the excellent and famous 'Red Arrow' /
'Krasnaya Strela'). Fares start from about 3,300
rubles (£65 or $110) for
the cheapest of four classes of sleeper, all with in-room TV
(note that solo passengers must pay for two tickets for sole
occupancy, they cannot share a 2-berth room). The most
expensive rooms have a private shower and toilet.
Their website is
www.grandexpress.ru, also see
www.cinderellatravel.com/russia_grandexpress_train.php.
How to buy
tickets - when in Russia:
The cheapest
place to book is at the reservation office at the station -
remember to take your passport, even if you only want a
Russian domestic train ticket.
Russian train reservations open 45 days before departure, you
can't book before reservations open. Russian
Railways have an efficient computerised reservation system,
and you can book any journey within and out of Russia from
the reservation office at any Russian railway station.
You can check how many berths in
each class are still available on any train on any date within
the next 45 days using the Russian Railways website,
www.rzd.ru.
This is in Russian, but with a little ingenuity and help from
a translation website such as
Google's
language tools or
http://world.altavista.com, you can use it to check
availability even if you don't speak Russian. This will give you an idea of how quickly
trains get fully booked. For example, why not look to
see how many berths are still available on tomorrow's 'Baikal'
train 10 from Moscow to Irkutsk, or this week's two
Moscow-Beijing trains..? Many main stations have a 'servis tsentr' (service centre) where you pay
a small fee (about 100 rubles) to book your ticket in a
relaxed air-conditioned environment. The extra 100
rubles can be well worth it..! How to
buy tickets - from outside Russia:
You
can book train travel in Russia through several Russian agencies,
including:
Feedback from
'seat61' correspondents has generally been very positive about
the first three of these Russian agencies, nothing has yet
been received about the All-Russia agency. Remember that
Russian train reservations only open 45 days before departure,
so reservations cannot be confirmed before bookings open -
although obviously, you can contact the agency and arrange the
booking beforehand. Some agencies appear to operate a
waiting list system for key Trans-Siberian trains. Alternatively, try one of the UK agencies specialising in
independent travel to Russia -
Intourist
0870 112 1232,
or The Russia
Experience, 020 8566 8846. |
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