Russia by Train

The distance between Mogilev, the city where I grew up, and Orenburg, the city where most of my family live, is roughly 1250 miles. Every summer my parents and I would take a train there so I can spend the summer with my grandparents. The train ride was about 32 hours long but I always enjoyed it because it allowed me to see new places, new faces, and create new memories. Being on a train for so long creates this new type of reality, a reality that is greatly dependent on who is traveling with you, how well you are able to mingle with people and how easily you can adjust to things. If you know what to expect, prepare in advance and leave the “high maintenance” traveler attitude at home, you can have an unforgettable experience discovering Russia by train.

Generally, long distance trains in Russia have 3 types of cars: плацкарт (a car where the beds are on both sides, with no doors – cheapest), купе (car is split up into rooms, 4 beds in each room – more expensive), and спальный вагон or люкс (car split up into rooms, 2 beds in each room – the most expensive).

In order to be able to enjoy a lengthy train ride, you definitely need to be in a спальный вагон, вагон люкс or вагон купе с повышенной комфортностью (it all basically means a sleeping car for 2 or 4). I looked into prices for such seats here in US and they are through the roof! Luckily in Russia it is considerably cheaper. To give you a reference point, my ticket from Moscow to Orenburg (1000 miles apart) in 2013 was about $250 ($500 round trip) in вагон купе с повышенной комфортностью (a new sleeping car for 4). The price for these tickets is out of reach for a lot of Russian people so the cars rarely fill up. The room in the car sleeps 4 but usually the upper 2 are empty, like they were when I traveled with my son last year (see pictures below).

You can also ask for the room that sleeps 2 but they will be a bit more, some trains, like the one I took, simply do not have them. Alternatively, you can buy cheaper tickets for плацкарт or купе but I do not recommend doing so, unless you do not mind sharing 10 feet of space with other people.

Here are some tips that you might find helpful if you decide to take a long train ride through Russia.

• Official Russian Railways site in English is www.eng.rzd.ru

  If you want to check routes or buy tickets click on “Passengers” in the upper left corner. Current exchange rate is about 35 Rubles to 1 US Dollar.

• Children under 12 get a 50% discount on tickets, children under 5 can travel free, as long as they share a bed with you on the train.

• Recently Russian Railways started offering electronic tickets for some destinations.

• The tickets are non-transferable, however, they are returnable. The amount of money you get back depends on how close you are to the departure date. If the date is not too close, you will most likely get most of the money back. I am not sure how this works with electronic tickets, since the only ones I have returned before were the paper ones 🙂

• All long distance trains have a restaurant car but I do not recommend eating there; however, you can get bottled water, tea, coffee or soda there anytime 🙂

• A typical Russian would bring cooked chicken, sandwiches, fresh veggies, eggs, Ramen-type noodles and soups (every car has a scorching hot water dispenser). You can always go to a local grocery store before you depart and get some precooked stuff. Alcoholic drinks are allowed on board. If you are not able to get food before your trip, you can resort to restaurant food; it really is hit or miss, you never know what you are going to get; a lot of times you will also see random people and kiosks selling food at the stations, this is also hit or miss. I personally bought пирожки, картошку, конфеты, пиво many times myself; sometimes it is good, other times, not so much.
• And one last thing, do not expect five star treatment, because you will most likely not get it. What you will get though is an opportunity to see Russia the way it is, some beautiful scenery and authentic towns and villages. Also, if you have someone to share the trip with, it can be a lot of fun to play games, have some drinks, and talk. Below are are a couple of phrases you mind find useful when traveling by train:

Билеты, пожалуйста! – Tickets, please!

Вот мой билет. – Here is my ticket.

Извините, где вагон-ресторан? – Excuse me, where is the restaurant car?

Сколько стоянка? – How long is this stop?

Какая это станция? – What is this stop?

Сколько это стоит? – How much does it cost?

У вас есть негазированная вода? – Do you have still water? (as opposed to carbonated/mineral water, because it is very common in Russia)

Всего хорошего!