Booking tickets in advance
Choosing a train
Using electronic tickets
Getting to the train station
At the train station
Cancellation policy

Booking tickets in advance
This website allows you to book both Russian domestic and international tickets. In case of domestic trains, you can book a seat 45 days or less prior to the departure date. If you are booking more than 45 days ahead, we will place a pre-order in our system and notify you as soon as your ticket becomes available for purchase. You can book ticket for international train up to 120 days in advance.

Choosing a train
Generally speaking there are two types of trains in Russia - express and regular. Expresses usually run between large cities located relatively close, like Moscow and St. Petersburg. An express train from Moscow to St. Petersburg takes about 5 hours. The seating in express trains is usually comparable to seating in other European trains or as in the airplanes (although with more leg room).

Second type of Russian trains - regular trains - usually has bunk beds instead of seats. These trains are designed to travel for longer distances. Some regular trains are faster than others. There are three types of carriages in these trains: "SV", "KUPE" and "PLATKART", which means 1st, 2nd and 3rd class respectively.

The specific arrangements vary from one train to another, but generally speaking, 1st class has two beds in one enclosed room, 2nd class has 2 lower beds and 2 bunk beds in one enclosed room and 3rd class has 4 beds in a non-enclosed area.

We do not recommend our customers to buy seats of lower class than 2nd. If you book two tickets for the 2nd class, you should expect that you will be sharing the room with 2 more people.

Using electronic tickets
Electronic ticket is just a simple booking number that indicates that a certain seat is reserved in your name. When you book your ticket here, we will send you a booking receipt that will have your name and the reservation number on it, as well as the bar code. Please print it out and bring it with you to the train station - you will need it to get your boarding pass.

Note: if you are booking tickets for more than one person, all the names will be on the same booking receipt.

Getting to the train station (important for Moscow and St. Petersburg!)
You need to be aware that large Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg have more than one train station. Each station specializes on a certain direction. Obviously you need to be to the correct train station not to miss your train. You will find the key to Moscow and St Petersburg railway stations below. If you are not certain which train station you need to be at, please let us know and we will help you. You can contact us by email info@russiantrains.com or telephone 1-800-884-1721 (office hours are from 9 am to 6 pm New York time, Monday - Friday).

Tip: if you want to arrange transfer to or from your train station, let us know as we offer transfer service for additional charge: info@russiantrains.com

Moscow stations:

• Leningradsky Station: Estonia, Finland, St. Petersburg and northwestern Russia.
• Belorussky Station: Belorus, Kalliningrad, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and some trains to Latvia.
• Kazansky Station: Central Asia, Ryzan, Ufa, Samara and Novorossiisk.
• Kievsky Station: Serves Western Ukraine and Southeastern Europe.
• Kursky Station: Southern Russia, Caucasus nations, Eastern Ukraine, and Crimea.
• Paveletsky Station: Voronezh, Tambov, Volgograd and Astrakhan.
• Rizhsky Station: Latvia.
• Savyolovsky Station: Kostroma, Cherepovets and some trains to Vologda.
• Yaroslavlsky Station: Siberia, the Russian Far East, Mongolia and China.

St. Petersburg stations:

• Moskovski railway station: Moscow, Murmansk, Novgorod
• Vitebski railway station: Latvia (Riga), Lithuania (Vilnius), Ukraine (Kiev), Belarus (Minsk).
• Finlandski railway station: Finland (Helsinki)
• Varshavski railway station: Poland (Warsaw)
• Baltiiski railway station: cities around St. Petersburg.

At the train station
At the train station, you must must exchange your electronic ticket receipt for a boarding pass. This can be done in any ticket booth or electronic terminal. Look for booths that have an E-ticket sign or just go to a booth and scan the bar code at the automatic booth machine.

It is important that you have a government issued ID that verifies your identity. You will not be able to board a train without your ID. Please make sure that your name on the electronic ticket receipt is printed the same was as in your passport.

Note for Russian citizens: if you are a Russian citizen and planning to use domestic Russian passport, please make sure that your name is spelled in Cyrillic alphabet on the electronic ticket. If your name is in Latin, please use your international passport.

Cancellations and Modifications
We all change our travel plans sometimes. You can cancel a ticket reservation at any moment, but no later than three (3) days before the departure date. The cancellation fee will equal to 30% of the total ticket price. If you need to change your ticket, please also contact us. You can change a ticket no later than three (3) days before the departure date on the original ticket and the fee will equal $40 dollars. For cancellations and modifications please write to info@russiantrains.com.