Railovution - Travelling to and from Russia


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From Europe to Russia and former Soviet states and back

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Fares


There are daily direct train connection between many European countries and Russia and former Soviet Union states. Moreover it is possible to reach Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kiev from any corner of Western Europe with only one – two changes of the train. The same is right for Russians, Ukrainians or Lithuanians who are travelling to the West. They can easy go on the train to London, Barcelona or Rome. The train journey is exciting, comfortable and safe way of travelling. The only one “But” is the price, which turns off many train passengers to take the planes. However the railway could compete even with the budget airlines if to purchase the train tickets smartly. Our goal is to help you to buy the railway tickets cheaper than you can do it yourself at the cashier's desk at the station. It only seems that there is nothing simpler than to ask directly the railway and get a dreamed ticket. In fact, there are so many international fares, in which even the most experienced ticket cashier easily can be lost. In turn we offer you the better deal than the many railways operators can do for you. We sell tickets throughout Europe, but first of all we are a Swiss company, and as evidence we give as example for your own analyses the official fares for Basel - Moscow return trip if you would buy tickets directly from Swiss Railways (SBB SFF FFS), from Russian Railways (RZD) and through us. To know the fares from other European cities, please enter your journey in our booking form. Shortly after it we will send you back the cheapest and best option for your selected journey.

Routes

Basel

Moscow

Price per person

SBB CFF FFS

RZD

1 Person

CHF 796/ € 482

R 19442/ € 527

CHF 624/ € 378

2 Personen

CHF 678/ € 411

R 19442/ € 527

CHF 501/ € 304

1 Child (2-12 y.)

CHF 464/ € 297

R 11196/ € 304

CHF 255/ € 155

Group 5 Persons

CHF 678/ € 411

R 19442/ € 527

CHF 427/ € 259


	All fares are inclusive ticket and reservation price, but excluding the booking fee. All fares are given for July and August 2008 and subject to change. R = Russian Rouble, CHF = Swiss franc

There are three main routes to take from Western Europe.


	Route 1, via Warsaw and Minsk: the fastest, most comfortable and convenient way



There are direct sleeping trains or sleeping cars from Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, Bruxelles, Munich, Paris, Prague and Wien to Moscow, St Petersburg, Minsk, Saratov, Sochi, Ufa, Samara, Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yeakerinburg and even to Irkutsk in Siberia or to Astana in Kazakhstan. But bear in mind: this route goes through Belarus. All western citizens need a Belarus transit visa even if they just pass it on the train. Getting a Belarus visa is straightforward. First you will need to get your Russian visa before applying for the Belarus one, and then bring or send your passport, one pass photo, train ticket and their copies to the nearest Belarus Embassy. A Belarus transit visa costs differently: for most European nations it is € 30 single/ € 55 return, but £44 single/£79 return for British or $ 100/$200 for American citizens. More about formalities and the addresses of Belarus embassies world-wide you can find at our Visa section. Russian or Ukrainian citizens with resident permit in the UK and Switzerland travel visa-free through Schengen states up to 5 days on the transit basis.


	Route 2, via Warsaw and Vinius : useful if you are going to St. Petersburg, but with extra changes of the trains



		To avoid Belarus you can take the second route to Russia via Vilnius. There are no direct trains to Lithuania from Western Europe, you need to catch the overnight train to Warsaw and then a daily morning train to Vilnius ( due the difference in track gauges between Polish and Lithuanian railways you need to change trains at border with a simple same-platform interchange) . The overnight train leaves Vilnius for St. Petersburg on odd - numbered days meaning for most Europeans to leave home on even-numbered days before. St. Petersburg itself is well connected to Moscow and to elsewhere in Russia. Logistically it is also a good starting or finishing point of your Trans-Siberian or Trans-Asian journey. Alternatively, there are two daily trains from Vilnius to Riga with its direct trains to either Moscow or St Petersburg. Travelling by this way you need to over-night in Vilnius.


	Route 3, via Warsawor Wien and Kiev : the cheapest way, although it is slower and takes at least 2 nights.

Finally you can take the third option to go to Russia through Ukraine, which no longer requires the EU, UK, US and Swiss citizens to buy a visa. Going via Ukraine takes an extra time but it is cheaper then the way via Belarus. There are plenty of trains to Moscow from Kiev or elsewhere in Ukraine.

There are direct sleeping trains or sleeping cars from Europe to Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk and Simferopol. There are plenty of trains to Moscow from Kiev. Alternatively there are also direct Ukrainian trains to Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan as well as to Vladivostok in Russian Far.

Timetable

Check online timetable at http://bahn.hafas.de (in English, German, Dutch, Turkish, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish and Polish). However it is an automatic system giving sometimes strange connections in the middle of the night or offering too many interchange stations while in reality it is possible to change trains only ones. You can also check the timetable yourself at http://www.eng.rzd.ru, the website the Russian railways.

All international timetables are set on local time.

Train

The international trains to Russia have modern air-conditioned sleeping-cars with ten compartments each of which can be used as 3-berth (2nd class) or 2-berth or single-berth (1st class). Passengers travelling alone share a 2-bed or 3-bed compartment with other sleeper passengers of the same sex. By day the compartment can be transformed into the sitting rooms. Each compartment has a washbasin, towels and soap as well as bed lines are provided. A restaurant car serves meals, snacks and drinks, but always travels with some supplies of your own.


Sleeping carriages

1st class or SV

Coach layout:

2nd class or Kupé

Coach layout:

Booking

To make booking Railovution train tickets, please enter your journey in our booking form. Shortly after it we will send you back the cheapest and best option for your selected journey, and provide you with a booking reference number and a link giving you fulfilment progress information. We use top-tier Internet technology security systems to insure the highest level of security on your transaction. All personal and payment information is held confidential to us; we don't sell or distribute any of our customer information.

After payment the printed tickets will be delivered to your home or work address in 3-5 business days within EU, UK and Switzerland by courier mail service (to other parts of the world by request). Please read our Delivery section for more details.

Remember the train reservation to Russia and former Soviet Union states opens 60 days in advance before departure date and you can’t book tickets until then.

You can cancel your journey and get the refund and changes the dates of your travel. Please read our Terms & Condition including Booking Conditions and Privacy Statement for more details.

For any questions or for more information on any of our products and services, please contact us.

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