Traveling around Russia by train

contents: russian train system • trains • where to buy the train tickets • where the trains depart from • reading the timetable • how to buy train tickets • how to book a train ticket

We decided to make this section in the form of FAQ, to make it easier for you to navigate. If you have a question that is not answered here, please, post it in our Talk Lounge Russia Forums and we will answer within 3 days.

New: A section on Rules on Cancellations, Refunds, Luggage Restrictions, Exchanges, and Stopovers is added. Learn what happens when you miss your train, lose your ticket, want to carry your motorcycle or a pet...

Q: Which train companies operate the Russian railway network?
A: The Russian Railways (RZhD) is the company that owns the railway network throughout Russia. It has a few departments (or sections), such as Oktyabrskaya railway network (serves Moscow - St. Petersburg route), or East Siberian railway network (serves the area around Baikal Lake in Siberia), but generally it's one huge government monopoly. The Russian Railways is like a state within a state with its own schools, little towns, hi-tech communication network, and equipment. It is quite a successful company too, because it manages to run trains on time in such a huge and diverse country as Russia and to pay good salaries to train drivers and staff.

Q: Can I buy train tickets for Russia?
A: Yes, you can, but you always need to present your passport and all tickets have your name, place, and passport number on them.
You can buy your train tickets either at any train station or from an agent. The agents always charge a fee (usually from $5 to 25%) on top of the Russian Railways price, because the Russian Railways don't pay any commission and require a lot of paperwork to be done on each purchase.
The tickets for all destinations are usually readily available, however, if you want a train for a specific date or a train that departs only a few times a week, it is better to try to buy your ticket at least 3-7 days before.

Q: Are there any restrictions?
A: You cannot book a train ticket in Russia - only purchase it. You cannot purchase it earlier than 45 days before the departure of your train. Your ticket will have a place, your name and your passport in it. There are no such things as "open tickets" in Russia and you can't do stopovers (unless you get a separate ticket for each part of the journey).

Q: What types of trains are there in Russia?
A: The following classification is used in Russia: a seat in a common carriage (si`dyachee mesto v `obshchem va`gone), a seat (si'dyachee

A common carriage of a train - Platzcart (3rd class)

mesto - "сидячее место"); a "platzcart" ("плацкарт") - that is common car with berths (on the photo); one couch in a 4-berth compartment (aka coupe) (od'no 'mesto v ku'pe - "одно место в купе" - one place in compartment); or one couch in a 2-bed compartment - those kind of wagons are called "sleep cars" - (od'no 'mesto v s'palynom va'gone - "одно место в спальном вагоне" - one place in "sleep car").
A seat is like 4th class, a platzcart is 3rd, a couch in a 4-bed coupe is 2nd and a couch in a 2-bed coupe is the 1st class.
Although the 3rd class is a common carriage it is usually a safer option for women, as they do not risk getting stuck in a coupe with some strange neighbors. It is also cheaper, but not as clean, and not all trains have it.

Q: What the atmosphere on the train is like?
The train compartments are quite comfortable and long journeys make people meet and talk a lot. It is a common sight to see a family or a group of friends eating some home-made food and drinking beer or vodka. The atmosphere on the train is usually quite friendly

Girls riding a train from St. Petersburg to Moscow

and people tend to help each other.
Some cheaper trains might be quite dusty and dirty, especially the toilets (which sometimes stink horribly). Also, if the train makes quite a long journey and makes a lot of stops on the way, you're guaranteed to have your neighbours changing every few hours, and sometimes some people may get a bit rowdy. In this case you can just call a conductor and it will be up to him to calm the person down.


Q: Will my luggage be safe?
A: Generally, it is safe, however, if you're going on a long journey or if your train is going to make a lot of stop overs, it's better to be careful about small valueable items and money.
It is possible to keep the luggage either in an overhead luggage storage area, or under the bed. It is more secure to keep it under your bed.


Q: Are there toilets, showers, bedsheets in the trains?
A: There are two toilets at each end of every carriage with a WC and a sink, the toilets are usually not very clean. If you take a more comfortable train, there's more chances it will be cleaner.
It's better not to drink tap water in the train, because it's dirty.
The showers are provided on long-distance trains (more than 24 hours), only in kupe or 1st class carriages. If your train doesn't have a shower, you can ask a conductor to allow you to use a shower in another carriage for a small fee.
The bedsheets are provided in the train, and a set (which includes a towel) costs about 50R ($1.5-$2).

Q: Is it safe to travel in Russian trains?
A: Yes, it is very safe. Russian trains are very secure, perhaps it's the safest trains in the world! Every carriage has one or two conductors, who look after it 24 hours a day. Every passenger gets his ticket checked upon entry and must present a passport to get on the train. Every train has a police team on board. On every stop the train gets thoroughly checked to make sure there are no minor damages. Every long-distance train has its own diesel generator-carriage, which means you'll still have electricity for your journey even if all power plants in the world stop.
Having said that, you still need to look out for your wallet and bags, especially on long stops along the Trans-Siberian.

Q: Is it possible to do stop-overs while traveling on a Russian train?
A: Yes, it is, however, you will need to buy a separate ticket for each "portion" of your journey. The train tickets in Russia are issued for a specific date, on a specific date, for a specific journey, and for a specific person. So, it is not possible to buy an open ticket. If you need to go, say, from Moscow to Irkutsk with a stop-over in Novosibirsk, you will need to buy two tickets: Moscow - Novosibirsk and Novosibirsk - Irkutsk. If you're not sure about the 2nd part of your journey, you can wait till you get to your first destination and try to buy your ticket there. Usually, if you want to take a ticket for the train that departs in 3 or more days, it is possible to get tickets (except for the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchurian trains, which we advise to book ahead).

Q: Where can I buy train tickets?
A: You have two options: either to buy the tickets though ticket-sales agencies or buy it directly at any railway station.
Railway station: Buying the train tickets yourself directly at the railway station is cheaper, but has a few disadvantages. First, there are often long queues. Second, the operators at ticket sales offices don't speak English. Third, there might not be tickets left if you buy them before your departure. The advantages are the price and the last-minute tickets that are sold 2 hours before departure: the price stays the same, but you might get a ticket that was previously unavailable.
Ticket agencies: The agencies can provide excellent service, but charge commission on top. The Russian railways doesn't pay any comission to the agents for tickets sold, so the price at an agency will always be higher. The agency's commission depends on the quality of service and may be from 10% to 50% of the ticket price.
Train Conductor: This is an unofficial way of buying the tickets for the train, usually when you're very late (that you don't have time to queue), or all tickets for the train you need were sold. A ticket bought from the conductor is usually around 50% more expensive than at the railway station, even for Russians.
Be prepared to do the thing discreet, and be prepared that the conductor will try to rip you off your money. Don't let them put the price higher than the 50%.
Usually, a conductor will put you in his coupe (4 berth compartment), or give you some place that weren't sold. Sometimes, if you bargain too much, they'll propose you the cheapest kind of place. For example, not long ago we were coming back from Novgorod, and we had to take the last train to Moscow (there were no buses as well), but there were no tickets left. So we had to talk the conductor into 200r ($7) for a seat in a common carriage (normally it'd cost 130r -$4.5). It was really hot, there were too many people, and the overnight trip was very tiring. But sometimes it's better than nothing.
If you don't want to talk to a conductor, try to talk to the train restaurant manager (especially on the short routs). Tell him you'll pay the price of the ticket to him, plus you'll spend some money in the restaurant. Maybe he'll let you spend the trip in the restaurant.
Moscow Railway Agency: Yaroslavsky railway station (where TransSiberian trains depart from), metro Komsomolskaya. Long queues, but low prices.

Q: Where do the trains depart in Moscow?
Leningradski railway station (usually north direction): St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Pskov, Vyborg, Murmansk, Estonia (Tallinn), Finland (Helsinki). Suburban trains to/from Klin, Tver.
Kazanski railway station: Adler, Barnaul, Izhevsk, Kazan, Novorossisk, Orenburg, Penza, Rostov, Samara, Tashkent, Toliatti, Ufa, Tchelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ryazan, Tomsk (usually south-east direction).
Yaroslavski railway station: Arkhangelsk, Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), Irkutsk, Kostroma, Kirov, Novosibirsk, Perm, Vladimir, Vladivostok, Vologda, Yaroslavl. Trans-siberian trains. Suburban trains to Abramtsevo, Sergiev Posad.
Belorusski railway station: Kaliningrad, Smolensk. Belarus (Minsk), Lithuania, Germany (Berlin), Poland.
Kurski railway station: Kursk, Krasnodar, Nizhni Novgorod, Oryol, Perm, Rostov-na-Donu. Local trains to / from Vladimir, Podolsk.
Rizhski railway station: Latvia (Riga)
Kievski railway station: Ukraine (Kiev)

Q: Where do the trains depart in St. Petersburg?
Moskovski railway station: Moscow, Novgorod, Murmansk
Vitebski railway station: Belarus (Minsk), Ukraine (Kiev), Latvia (Riga), Lithuania (Vilnius).
Finlandski railway station: Finland (Helsinki)
Varshavski railway station: Poland (Warsaw)
Baltiiski railway station: trains to the cities around St. Petersburg

HOW TO FIND THE NEEDED TRAIN. READING THE SCHEDULES. Usually the railway stations have the names of the directions the trains go. For example, if you need a train to St.Petersburg you should go to Leningradski vokzal (Leningrad - old name of St.Pete), if you need a train to Riga you should go to Rizhski vokzal.
If you want to know where your train departs from exactly, see our city guides' transportation section.
So, if you decided to check the schedule yourself, go to this railway station (vok'zal - "вокзал" in Russian) and look for the timetables (raspi'sanie - "расписание") they have on the wall or near the information (infor'matziya - "информация") offices. You can also try to ask for information at the information office, but the receptionists there will do their best to piss you off.
When you found the train ('poezd - "поезд") you need, it's helpful to write down its number ('nomer - "номер"), the departure time ('vremya otprav'lenia - "время отправления"), destination point ('punkt nazna'chenia - "пункт назначения").


Fore more information on specific rules and regulations concerning refunds, exchanges, luggage restrictions, late departures, etc. read our new Russian Railways Rules and Fare Regulations section.

HOW TO BUY THE TRAIN TICKETS. After you have everything ready, go to the ticket sales offices ("kassa" - "касса"). To buy the ticket you'll always need your passport (not id) with visa, sometimes they'll accept a copy. Foreigners are charged the same price as everyone.
Keep in mind, that you'll have to queue for a long time (like 1-2 hours), especially in Moscow, St Pete, and other big cities. Also, the ticket sales offices at the railway stations have "technical breaks", and that really pisses off: imagine, you stand in a line for an hour and then just in front of you the office is closed for another quater an hour. To avoid it, check the "technical breaks'" times of the offices (usually written on the glass).
Usually, when you queue, you can tell someone you'll come back and the person will keep your place for you. You can say "ya sei`chas podoi`du, zai`mite, pohaluista" - "I'll come back, hold the place for me, please", and it may work. Or it may not work.
If you don't speak Russian ask someone who speaks your language to help you (be careful about your money and passport). Or just take this paper you wrote everything down on (the number of the train, departure time, destinations, the dates you need and the kind of place you want) and give it to the person selling the tickets. Check if everything is the way you want it when you have the ticket, if not, say it's wrong and change it.


HOW TO BOOK AN INTERNATIONAL TRAIN.
You can reserve a train ticket from to any destination inside Russia through WayToRussia.Net. For more information, prices, and confitions, please, see our Train Tickets Reservation section.