Source: Billboard Daily
The authors of “Daily Posters” swept through the TRANS-Siberian railway and couldn’t hold in his impression about the Russian Railways.
More and more stories of Russian trains are divided not compatriots and foreign friends.
For them the TRANS-Siberian route is one of the most popular attractions.
We often travel with Russian trains, but usually our trips are limited to nights, so that certain phenomena are just not encountered.
When we finally went on a journey on the TRANS-Siberian, a lot of Russian trains has led us into confusion.
About why the trains are all arranged just so and not otherwise, we asked the press service of Russian Railways and received detailed answers. Comments of JSC “FPC” (subsidiary of Russian Railways, which in the end spoke with us) are highlighted in italics.
Ticket prices
Somehow of the opinion that the claim of the Railways — it is naive and pointless, like complaining Russian free medical care and education.
Many people still believe that traveling by train is affordable.
In reality the price of a ticket to the proprietary train “Russia” from Moscow to Vladivostok starts from 8.5 thousand for a place in the reserved seat, if you look at least 45 days prior to travel.
However, the figure on the Railways website is nothing more than a marketing ploy.
In the further processing of the ticket is that the price relates to only one place in the car and place it — 38-e — side top shelf the toilet. The rest of the car with reserved seats cost more than 12 thousand for the six-day journey, the water of titanium and the lack of soul.
It seems to be considered that a compartment car — bourgeois replacement ticket, but the desired direction the price of the reserved seat is already comparable with the cost of flights.
But the coupe without power will cost 1.5 times more expensive than plane — 20.5 thousand (we are talking about the top shelf, the bottom — five thousand more).
The price of SV altogether watery eyes.
Source: Billboard
If you break the trip into several sections (probably few will want to travel through Russia, never leaving the train) and not buy exactly 45 days before the start of the trip, when the same budget is 20 thousand it is possible to count only on reserved seats, and not always in the company trains.
In our case, a trip to the reserved seat with access to Kirov, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Ulan-Geobases 19 600 rubles.
Sockets and mobile communications
Labels near the outlets warn that can be found for free (say, before the conductors take money for it), but they are not designed for mobile phones and for electric shavers, so for the safety of the phone, the train crew is not responsible.
We don’t know whether the train is at least one person with an electric, but a mobile phone, a tablet or a laptop to have everyone in the car.
Review the FPC:
“The development of technologies that gave modern man an abundance of personal gadgets ahead of the standards of car building, the carriage can be operated for decades.
Sockets intended for connection of electric shavers that allow you to charge low-power equipment and passengers, including mobile phones, however, proper operation of such power supplies and the preservation of the health of connected devices depends on the power of the consumer and quality chargers.
Source: Billboard
On a piece of Ulan-Ude— Vladivostok in the car three sockets 54 people, and one of them is in the toilet.
The conductor is in the same position as that of the passengers: once she asks to put it to the outlet, referring to the impending death of the phone.
Experienced recommend taking a long trip extension to hold him to his compartment and troubles do not know.
In our car so no one did, but in the neighboring extender brightened the trip for many people.
In one of cupcak after lights out even staged a show.
During unscheduled stops in the box to the outlets stop working. Night outlet and is turned off.
Perhaps the rules are really reglamentary all this, but the staff of the train to our questions are not answered.
Later in the press slurzberg we extensively explained that the railroad used two main systems of energy — Autonomous and centralized, and in our case the car was in Autonomous energy supply that could result in certain restrictions of use power supply”.
One day, the head of the train and asks whether we are satisfied.
We say that we categorically are not satisfied with the number of outlets, and received the response: “If you use the phone as a means of communication, the number of such sockets is sufficient.”
By the way, the phone as a means of communication to use is quite difficult: one of the consequences of the vastness of the Motherland — the lack of a network on the stretch between stations.
Especially funny in this light they look hanging on the train announcement that questions and requests on the service route can be solved “right now” at such and such room.
Station Novosibirsk | Source: Billboard
Windows and air conditioning
After midnight take the train in Novosibirsk, a long wait, while all will check tickets and hand out sheets.
Finally bring, and manages to go to sleep, but the window in the compartment is not closed, ruthlessly blowing the heads laying on top of people the stream of cold air.
One of us just on the top shelf.
She is trying to build a barrier between themselves and the slit in the window out of available tools (in the course are tourist foam and nasty barbed blanket), and the rest are attached. The next morning the neighbor complaining that her throat hurts, and we go to complain to the head of the train.
During the day the window is correct.
But on the way to Vladivostok, we for three days get into the compartment with the emergency exit, where the window does not open in principle. Warnings about this when selecting a location on the website was not.
As we find out later, valuable knowledge about the location of emergency exits passed on from one generation to the other travelers on special forums, where we were before the trip, unfortunately, did not.
It was cool, but we have just in case asked the conductor whether the train of conditioning. The air conditioning was not.
Bathrooms
Air conditioners and toilets in second-class carriages is a lottery.
According to the information on class of service wagons of JSC “FPK”, in reserved seat and compartment cars of different type air conditioning and dry toilets “are not guaranteed”.
However, to find out whether facilities in your car, it is almost impossible (except on the forum where passengers sometimes leave reviews on specific cars to specific trains).
Review of JSC “FPC”: “If a passenger wants to know about the presence of a car air conditioner, you must choose to travel train, where the presence of HVAC equipment guaranteed.”
In our car of the toilets was not, but the conductor good-humouredly said that he is in the next car. The wagon is also reserved seats and, therefore, its inhabitants likely paid as much as we do.
On one of the stretches because of sanitary zones one of us get kicked out of the toilet with a toothbrush in his mouth.
Attempt to get in the wagon with the composting toilet fails — conductor and conductor stand chest to protect the bathroom from kitrug from neighboring cars.
She first refers to the fact that the toilet only for passengers of her car.
On request to show the document stipulates such a rule, it starts to put pressure on pity and says that they are not “pumped” in Chita and himself would drive to Vladivostok.”
Shower toilet dining car | Source: Billboard
Review the FPC:
“Regulatory documents of the right of use by passengers of one car toilets other car is not installed, while, according to the regulations adopted within the company, the conductor has no right to impede the passenger to visit any of the available toilets.
However, a situation may arise when, owing to the increase in the number of passengers using an eco-friendly toilet complex, undercar tanks last filled more rapidly and the overflow will stop working.
In this case the passengers, are equipped with toilets, you have to use “regular” toilet of another car, causing a fair criticism.
The number of stations on which the emptying tanks environmentally friendly toilet complex is limited by the requirements of sanitary regulations, in addition, a large number of technical stops of trains will increase the time in transit”.
If you think that in the long-distance trains must be the souls, you are mistaken: shower owes nothing.
The website of Russian Railways informs us that the shower is guaranteed only in luxury cars.
In our poteniometer-Vladivostok,which travels more than four days, something similar to the shower we found only in the dining car: this mixer over the sink, over which you can wash your hair, and the hole in the floor that drains water.
Apparently, the shower was intended for workers of car-restoranai other employees of the train crew, but we took a chance to use it between ordering and absorption of food.
Sign “No Smoking” in the vestibule of the train | Source: Billboard
Cigarette
Compliance with the rules trudnovospituemyh especially funny in the context of a violation of law that occurs right before your eyes.
Inside long-distance trains you can not smoke anywhere, but that’s not stopping many.
Tobacco unbearable smells in restrooms, lobbies and in the joints between cars.
What are you doing in this time guides?
Themselves smoke in the lobbies.
According to rumors, caught the head of the train smokers just buy for 100 rubles a ticket “Lottery Railways” — and no one calls the police.
Review of JSC “FPC”: “the representatives of the carrier has no right to prosecute violators of the law.
The conductors and the train Manager, who found Smoking passengers, I can only point this out or to call employees of traffic police”.
Transliteration
To cross the TRANS-Siberian railway is the dream of many Europeans and Americans.
Only in our car heard Polish, Italian and English, in the neighboring cars of foreigners, no less.
What are the decals in the car have been translated into English? The correct answer is: no.
Perhaps it implements the program on development of tourism.
However, riding with us, the foreigners did not complain, took all with humility and a condescending smile. The poles, for example, was saved by the fact that they can understand a little Russian.
A bit more merciful in this sense the restaurant car.
There is a menu in English. The food is really not very good, and prices turn up, but after two days the way you’ll be happy fat roast potatoes with chicken.
About pleasant
Of course, it would be unfair to say that our journey by train was much better.
But if you remember all the nice moments, it appears that they either belong to the segment of travel on a Deluxe train, or it is the merit of the neighbors.
So, on the interval Kirov — Yekaterinburg coincided both factors: brand “the Demidov Express” and the neighbor-cat.
We did not know that buy tickets in the car where you can transport animals, although when you select online Railways near the wagon stood the appropriate abbreviations ZU and Zh (the keys to decrypt them need to find another, so be careful).
None of us is allergic to cats, and the cat and her master was the embodiment of intelligence.
Source: Billboard
The good mood had sockets in each compartment and what is in front of the major stations from the speaker came the historical information about these places, not the songs of Nikolai Baskov.
Has not been canceled long-distance trains as a way to finish things, which in ordinary life hands do not reach for months to finish the “Resurrection” of Tolstoy, to dopisivati picture of a cross and get a mezzanine Scrabble.
Summary
RZD tries to pretend to be a sort of hostel on wheels, who cares about his clients and wants them to go back again and again.
But it’s not very clear what this effort: customers will return and so they have no choice, anyway.
In the case of the Russian trains still work like in South Korea’s dystopian “Through the snow”: the passengers are divided into social classes and the benefits of civilization is allowed not all.
Moreover, access to the benefits drawn like the lottery, the rules of which are unclear.
How to buy a ticket in the car in which the toilet can go all the time, not like a dog on a schedule?
How to find out whether the conditioning and normal sockets? The human factor seems too slow and boorish conductors — do not spiral out of control.
“You can’t specify on the website all information that would be useful to passengers”, — stated in the press service of FPC.
We imagined a resource like booking.com in which it would be possible to leave feedback about a specific train, but better — the car or the compartment.
In reality, there are only very inconvenient Railways website, which most people use just to not to go to the station for a ticket.
By the way, before turning to Railways as journalists, we wrote a review on the trip and raised questions in their virtual reception — as passengers. For 2.5 weeks we were so no one answered.
Elena Dolzhenko, Anna Laletina
