Russia Travel Tips: Train Travel

Despite the ugly quality of hotels in Russia, the quality of trains is unExpectedly high.

Train travel was always popular in Russia. And it will remain for a long time in the future. There is a specific romance for Russian soul to travel by train. Every of us lives in more or less limited world and we do not face other worlds very often. Train is a place where we meet people from different worlds, of different occupancies, lifestyles, classes, interests, places. Long talks with strangers you'll never see anymore, the sound of knocking wheels, vast country running outside the window and the early childhood memories, of course, will always attract people.

Besides it's cheap and night trains help to save money on hotels (which cost crazy in Russia).



The quality of the trains is dramatically different depending on price. And the cheap tickets are normally booked several weeks in advance. Expensive class tickets are normally available at any moment. Sales opens 45 days before departure. You cannot book ticket. Only buy. But cancellation policy is reasonable (ask travel agent or locals for your exact trip).

The only problem is that staff never speaks English (Spanish, Deutsch, French), but very often is highly keen in informal Russian. So it's better to travel with local friends or to learn Russian. There are chances to find some passengers speaking English, but do not rely on this too much. Do not get lost during stops on way - no chances to find anybody speaking English somewhere in deep regional Russia between the biggest cities. There are no English signs or notices in Russia. You are in risk to get lost forever. I always recommend you to have mobile contact with local Russian friend or Travel Agent who speaks English (or your native language).


Here we do not discuss suburb trains (which are better to avoid for foreign travellers), but we tell about inter-city trains.

Normally trains in Russia contain many cars (wagons), from 12 to 18. They are divided for different categories. Not all categories are represented in every train, but usually there are always 3 options. There is also Restaurant-Wagon (Vagon-restoran) in the middle of the train.

Regardless of category wagons and trains are normally clean inside but with dirty unwashed windows.

There are different categories of wagons:

1. Sidyachiy (Сидячий) - Seating - the cheapest
2. Platskartniy (Плацкартный) - sleeping in crowd (52 bunks per wagon in sections without doors) - very hot, no ventilation, romantic odour of dirty socks, boiled eggs, fried chickens, salted cucumbers and vodka. Unforgettable experience for truly Russian travel. Most of windows will never be opened.
3. Kupe, Kupeyniy (Купе, купейный) - sleeping in separate cabins with doors (4 bunks per cabin). There is a huge gap in comfort and price between Kupe and lower categories. Very often it is the best option for normal traveller: no luxury and no extream.
4. Spalny (Спальный) - Sleeping VIP. - The best option for the romantic trip with girlfriend. Sleeping cabins of high comfort with 2 wide soft bunks per cabin. Great opportunity for long trip together! Only one disadvantage - price. Sometime higher than flight.

There are also some variations, like 3 bunk cabins on trains running to Europe, but they are not so common.

Trains are also of different categories.

1. Passazhirskiy poezd (Пассажирский поезд) - passenger train - the slowest train which stops very frequently. Low quality interior. Delays sometime. The cheapest price. Cost almost nothing in Platzcart or Sidyachiy class. Mostly they are fine for travel without any problems. But ask local advice before making your decision. Sometime such trains might be not only ugly, but even dangerous. Especially if they are legendary runs from the usual prisoner areas when a crowds of released "ex"-crimes return home. Some of heroes do not manage to complete their journey and are convoyed back. Moscow - Vorkuta is one of such legendary trains. But in almost all other cases it is fine option for cheap travel.

2. Skoriy poezd - (Скорый поезд) - fast train. Excellent trains. Clean. Cheap. Little number of stops.

3. Firmeniy poezd (Фирменный поезд) - brand trains. The best option for VIP travel. These trains are the most comfortable and famous trains. Almost every intercity railway has at least one such train daily. They all bear the individual brand names and are the pride of owning railway. High comfort inside. Air conditioning. Cabin service etc. Like a perfect hotel on wheels (only if you do not select Plazcartny wagon, which are normaly 2-3 per brand train). If you want to travel in Sleeping VIP wagon (Spalny) you normally will find them only here, in firmeniy poezd.

There are also some specific trains like Super-expresses (between Moscow and Saint-Petersburg) and others.


In fact all the railways in Russia belong to semi-governmental company RZD - Russian Railways (Российские Железные Дороги). Football fans know their famous football club "Locomotiv" (which did not win UEFA cups though, yet). However, different sections has separate sub-rulling and are in a kind of competition to each other in terms of quality (not price).


Russia Train Timetable

Moscow - St.Petersburg trains and TransSiberian train from Moscow to Vladivostok are the most popular among foreigners. I hope to have an opportunity to tell about them in more details later.