International routes. Russian Railways launch "swifts" to Berlin Registration time for the Berlin swift train

On December 17, 2016, a new one set off on its first flight. high-speed train"Strizh" on the Moscow-Berlin route.
This is the first Russian international train V Western Europe passing from the Russian gauge 1520 to the European gauge 1435 without rearranging wheel sets through an automatic transfer device in Brest.

The train departed from the Kursk station in Moscow

On the first flight, passengers were very interested and there were practically no empty seats on the train.


The head of the train reports on his readiness to depart on the first flight to the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation and the President of Russian Railways

Twins were traveling on the train)

Thanks to critical comments from readers about the dullness of the drab interiors, a touch of color was introduced into the train. The interiors have become more interesting.


But there are practically no places for conductors on this train and it is very difficult to work here.
We observe a working moment - the head of the train gives instructions to the conductor.

For access to luxury compartments (with shower and toilet), passengers are issued key cards


The compartment for disabled people has a door twice as wide) Two cities fit in

And here is a restaurant, you can eat.

There are always a lot of people in the bistro car and I didn’t really want to shine the light on the faces of the passengers.

But in the carriage with seats there is plenty of space for children to run around.
This carriage was appreciated by passengers from Belarus because... it is very convenient for them to move to Poland and Germany

In the meantime, we'll have dinner.
Are we going to Germany?)))
Knuckle)

Dining car

The last passengers board in Brest and... the border.
The border from Belarus/Russian Federation is crossed on the move while the gauge changer is operating, and border and customs control does not take extra time

There were clearly more people even in the sitting area. Most of the passengers are from Belarus.
And there are simply no places in the compartments for a long time. Everything has been purchased.

Well, here comes Warsaw.

We dozed off and Berlin.
People meet and smile
Morning.

Official photo for representatives of the first flight - Russia, Germany, Spain.

As I said earlier and showed to some “railroad workers” with telescopic glasses, the train is driven to Germany by a Polish “Taurus”

Berlin - Ostbahnhoff

First flight crew.

Then the train leaves for maintenance at the Talgo depot.
Berlin

In the depot everything is almost like in Moscow, but a little older.

Here the conductors put the carriages in order for passengers traveling to Moscow

At 18:50 pm the train departs from Berlin Ostbanhoff to Moscow

There are many passengers to Moscow


And what beautiful conductors are on this train) There are no such conductors in Germany)

Interestingly, in border Frankfurt, many passengers gathered to board.

And outside there was the usual winter fog

Warsaw.
And again there are a lot of passengers hurrying home.

Now some impressions about the train:

Firstly, he can go faster and will obviously go faster over time. And there is a basis both in increasing the speed in Poland, and in the fact that now almost an hour is left in the schedule for the work of the Polish border guards and the parking lot in Terespol is unreasonably large, although on this flight they did not fit in it either - they slowly came to the train, then found fault with the passengers scanning fingerprints and eventually delayed the train 20 minutes from schedule.
The maximum recorded speed in Poland was 153 km/h, in Belarus - 135 km/h

Secondly, the Internet was previously promised to be free for passengers, but is currently paid, and costs from 250 rubles for 4 hours to 990 rubles for 24 hours

Thirdly, seat cars are very popular among citizens of Belarus. Half of the journey is covered sitting quite comfortably, but the entire journey from Moscow to Berlin is quite difficult.

Distribution of materials and reposts with indication of the source are welcome.

New train significantly increased the comfort and safety of passengers on the road, says the head of the Ministry of Transport, Maxim Sokolov. Its main advantage is that it automatically adapts to the European track. This shortens the journey from Moscow to Berlin by almost five hours, the minister noted. Along the route, the train makes stops at the stations of Smolensk (Russia), Orsha (Belarus), Minsk (Belarus), Brest (Belarus), Terespol (Poland), Warsaw (Poland), Poznan (Poland), Rzepin (Poland), Frankfurt Oder (Germany). All countries through which the train passes participated in the certification of the train, the minister clarified.

The transition to the European gauge will be carried out in Belarus, said the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov. It will take about 20 minutes for the Swift to pass through a specially equipped transfer device from one track to another, whereas currently changing wheel sets takes about 2 hours.

Already, international passenger traffic has increased by more than 9 percent compared to last year. Communications with Germany increased by 35 percent. The launch of this train will create additional opportunities for passengers, Belozerov believes.

The Strizh train will run twice a week, departing from Moscow's Kursky Station on Saturdays and Sundays at 13:05 and arriving at Berlin Ostbahnhof station at 07:19 the next morning. From Berlin (Ostbahnhof station) the train will depart on Sundays and Mondays at 18:50 and arrive at Moscow's Kursky Station at 17:25 the next day.

It will take travelers 20 hours to get from Moscow to Berlin on a new branded train"Swift"

The train has 20 carriages. Of these, five carriages have four-seater compartments, four carriages have double compartments, two carriages have first class seats (20 seats in each carriage). They are designed mainly for those who travel not from Moscow to Berlin, but, for example, from one European city to another. EU residents have already fallen in love Russian trains, experts say. They hope that this lineup will also find its fans.

The train also has a bar car and a restaurant car. Among additional services Wi-Fi access to a multimedia portal with the ability to access the Internet. On the portal you can view the schedule, menu of the dining car and news for passengers. Those who have purchased first class seated tickets will be given tablets to view multimedia content.

From Sakhalin to Japan

The Ministry of Transport is studying the issue of creating a railway connection between Sakhalin (Russia) and Japan.

There are two options: a railway bridge or a tunnel along the bottom of the La Perouse Strait, which connects the Japanese and Sea of ​​Okhotsk and runs between the northern tip of Hokkaido Island (Japan) and the southern tip of Sakhalin Island, Cape Krillon (Russia). However, there are no technical solutions yet, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Transport Alexey Tsydenov noted in a conversation with journalists.

First, Sakhalin needs to be connected to the main part of Russia, and such a project was already discussed in 2013, Tsydenov recalled. There, two options were also considered: a bridge and a tunnel. The approximate cost of the project is 400 billion rubles.

Let us add that the narrowest place between the mainland and Sakhalin is the Nevelskoy Strait, about 8 kilometers wide, with a maximum depth of 24 meters.

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Call from Moscow: From other cities: The price of a train ticket in a compartment carriage is about 11,747 rubles. Taking into account seasonal coefficients, you can save up to 50% of the cost of tickets.

Communications are available with the following stations: Berlin, Frankfurt an der Oder, Erfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Karlsruhe.

You can find out the timetable, fare and availability in the "" section. To do this, indicate the departure and destination stations, as well as the date of travel.

Information for passengers

Discounts for individual passengers

  • 5% on the upper shelves at points of sale of JSC Russian Railways (not applicable in “Single” category compartments);
  • 10% on all seats, subject to reservation of seats from 60 to 45 days before train departure.

The specified discounts do not apply when issuing travel documents at group fares and the special Voyage fare.

Travel for children

A child under 4 years of age travels with an adult passenger without a separate seat - free of charge. If desired, you can issue a paid children's ticket with a seat.

A passenger who has booked travel in a Luxury (business) class carriage at the Adult-Single fare has the right to carry with him free of charge no more than two children under 12 years of age (until the day they reach this age, in train carriages No. 13/14 Moscow - Berlin "Swift" - no more than one child under 12 years of age), on which Russian Federation non-cash travel documents are issued. Outside the Russian Federation, issuing non-cash travel documents for transporting children is not required.

In a Double category compartment, travel in a Luxury (business) class carriage is carried out at a special “Adult “Family” fare for two adults traveling together who have the right to carry with them free of charge no more than two children under 4 years of age or one child under 12 years (until the day they reach this age, in the carriages of train No. 13/14 Moscow - Berlin "Strizh" - no more than two children under the age of 4 years)). For each child carried free of charge, a non-cash travel document must be issued in the Russian Federation. Outside the Russian Federation, issuing non-cash travel documents for transporting children is not required.

Transportation of pets and hand luggage

Transportation of dogs, other small pets and birds is permitted in any class, subject to payment for all seats in the compartment. Small (indoor) pets and birds are transported in cages, baskets, etc. It is allowed to transport no more than one dog or no more than one cage per compartment.

There is no additional charge for transporting dogs, small (pet) pets and birds.

A passenger may carry easily portable items (carry-on luggage) with him free of charge, if this does not contradict customs or administrative rules. The total size of one piece of hand luggage in the sum of three dimensions must not exceed 200 cm, while one side must not exceed 55 cm.

Passengers are allowed to carry with them free of charge:

  • in first class sleeping cars, including luxury (business) class cars, in Single category compartments - no more than 100 kg of hand luggage per compartment (in carriages of train No. 13/14 Moscow - Berlin "Strizh" - no more than 50 kg of hand luggage baggage per passenger);
  • in first class sleeping cars, including luxury (business) class cars, in Double category compartments - no more than 50 kg for each travel document with a seat (in carriages of train No. 13/14 Moscow - Berlin "Strizh" - no more than 50 kg hand luggage per passenger);
  • in second class sleeping cars and carriages with seats for an adult passenger no more than 36 kg and for a child under 12 years of age (until the day they reach this age) - no more than 15 kg for each travel document with a seat (in train carriages No. 13/14 Moscow - Berlin "Swift" - per passenger).

Buying tickets

Travel documents are issued on one form. Tickets can be purchased at international railway ticket offices along the train route (Russia (Russian Railways), Poland (PKP SA), Czech Republic (CD), Austria (ÖBB), Germany (DB), France (SNCF)).

You can purchase electronic tickets on the Passengers website.

The service is available on trains electronic registration.

To board the train along the entire route, the passenger must present to the carriage conductor an electronic ticket (boarding pass), printed on paper (A4 format), or its image on the screen of a mobile device, as well as an identification document of the passenger, which is indicated in the electronic ticket.

Electronic registration is carried out:

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Cancellation of the electronic registration service (refusal) is carried out no later than 1 hour before the train departs from the initial station of the route:

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Rules for refunding the cost of travel documents

Tickets are returned at the place of purchase.

At individual rates:

  • more than 6 hours before the train departure, 100% of the fare is reimbursed; less than 6 hours before the train departure, no refund is made.

For group rates:

  • from 60 to 15 days before the train departure, 100% of the fare is reimbursed, from 14 to 8 days before the train departure, 50% of the fare is reimbursed, less than 8 days before the train departure, no refund is made.

In the Russian Federation, a fee of 10 euros will be charged for the return of an unused ticket.

Many people don’t understand why buy train tickets to Berlin and spend 20 hours on the road, when you can fly to the German capital by plane for the same money in about 2.5-3 hours. I'll try to explain.

1. This Saturday, December 17, Russian Railways launched the Strizh fast train on the Moscow-Berlin route. The translation of the name was done simply - in Russia it is "Strizh", abroad - Strizh. The train looks the same as the one that is currently in service. Nizhny Novgorod. But this is only at first glance.

2. Alas, one cannot be happy for the Russian manufacturer and say that Strizh is the brainchild of the Tver Carriage Works or the Ural Locomotives. The train is adapted to Russian climatic conditions project of the Spanish Talgo 250, which is successfully used on the railways of Europe, and even in Kazakhstan. The more I studied the train, the more I realized how different it was from our classic long-distance trains.

3. The first thing that catches your eye is that the carriages are significantly shorter and lower. The length of one carriage is only 13 meters: half the size of our native Russian one.

4. All equipment for the train’s operation is hidden not under the floor, as is usually the case, but in two technical cars. They are located at the beginning and end of the train. Short car bodies of lightweight construction, made mainly of aluminum alloys, make it possible to lower the center of gravity. There are no traditional wheeled carts here either. The entire train of 20 cars has 21 wheeled bogies, with independent rotation of the wheels on their own axle shafts. That is, each car has only 1 (one, Karl!) pair of wheels.

5. Actually, here is a picture. Wheeled bogies are located under the car articulation units. It turns out that on one side the car rests on its wheel pair, and on the other - on the wheel pair of the next car. Due to all this, the cars can go through difficult sections and curves faster, and the impact on the track is much less than that of conventional carts.

6. A clever traction system turns the cart around corners. This allows you to minimize lateral loads on the wheels and reduce flange wear on the rails.

7. To avoid ice in the Russian climate, the wheels are blown with warm air (approximately 38 degrees).

8. During the reconstruction of the Moscow-Kyiv depot, three separate tracks were equipped specifically for servicing Swifts. The photo shows a turning device that allows you to repair wheels without disassembling the carts.

This is the first train in Russia equipped with a system for automatically changing the width of wheel pairs. A transfer device was created especially for this train in Brest. Thus, the Swift will switch from the Russian standard gauge of 1520 millimeters to the European standard of 1435 millimeters in just 20 minutes. Previously, this procedure took about two hours.

By the way, there is a widespread opinion that when choosing a gauge in Russia, the military aspect also played a role - a gauge different from the European one would make it difficult for a hypothetical enemy to supply troops in the event of an invasion of Russia.

In fact, most likely they didn’t think seriously about anything like this at first, but simply chose one of the models that existed in those years, which was then popular in the USA. The military significance of the gauge difference today is not very great - already in the middle of the 20th century, railway troops could easily change from 10 to 30 kilometers of road per day. The width of the track was not particularly important because retreating troops, since the First World War, often destroyed the tracks behind them. To supply the advancing troops on enemy territory, special temporary narrow-gauge railways were often built.

In Brest, border guards did not let anyone off the train and checked documents while they were moving. Therefore, I was unable to film the process of changing the train gauge. For anyone interested, I recommend watching Sasha’s report on this topic russos http://russos.livejournal.com/1355962.html

9. The photograph shows that the Strizh cars are almost a third lower than our two-system electric locomotive EP20. The height of the Swift platform is half the standard height. The first and last carriages of the train are technical - there are no passengers in them, only equipment.

10. Technical carriages contain all the systems that ensure vital functions, safety and fire extinguishing, communications of this train, and so on. A diesel generator, air compressor, air cleaning and heating systems are installed here. The train has two generators operating normally, but in the event of a breakdown, even one will be able to supply the entire train with electricity. The diesel fuel reserve lasts up to 15 hours of operation in winter and up to 30 in summer. It all depends on the outside temperature. It looks very neat and even somewhat futuristic.

11. Passenger cars look no less cosmic.

12. The entire train has a through passage, while the Euro size imposes its own restrictions - all the corridors are narrower than “ours”, and it will be difficult for two fat people to separate. In the photo at the end of the corridor there is a folding chair and a table. Yes, this is the guide's place. He no longer has his own compartment, where he could always buy Alenka chocolate and order tea.

13. Every second carriage is equipped with a cooler with hot and cold water.

14. Options for the layout of train cars.

15. Standard coupe. Recessed shelves are hidden in the niches of the walls. On the right in the background is a ladder to climb up. On the shelf above there are folding tables for each chair. Tickets for this compartment cost from 10,000 rubles.

16. View from the other side.

17. If in the unfolded state of the shelves such a compartment resembles our Russian trains, then the similarity ends there.

18. Instead of the usual table - a sink with a tap!

19. Seated carriage, the cheapest travel option - from 9,000 rubles per seat. Pull-out tables from the armrest, individual sockets, normal distance between the seats, footrests, hooks for clothes - the equipment is excellent.

20. The seats are comfortable, similar to business class on an airplane, but spending 20 hours sitting is cool. In fact, these places are intended primarily for those who will travel between Belarus, Warsaw and Berlin over distances covered in 3-6 hours.

21. Double SV. It was in this “number” that I traveled all the way to Berlin. The ticket cost 17,000 rubles - this money buys both seats at once, and you travel alone. Traveling with a neighbor costs approximately 13,000 rubles per seat.

22. Airplane or space shuttle, but not a train)

23. SV also has its own sink.

24. Option with folded beds. An interesting feature: if anyone can unfold the bed, only an athlete can slam the shelf back into the wall. You need to put in a lot of effort so that the pillow and blanket crumple and the shelf fits into place.
But this is a full bed. Wide and long, moderately hard, just the way I like it. With my height of 178, my legs and arms did not rest against anything.

But it turned out to be cramped to travel while sitting with the beds unfolded - your head rests on the top bunk. Therefore, either lie on the beds, or fold the shelves and ride while sitting in chairs. I used the folding ladder as a laptop table.

25. And this is a family coupe, with a rather strange layout solution. These are two standard CBs, with an additional common door (on the right in the photo).

26. For all listed classes, each carriage has one bathroom. It is quite enough, because the carriages are small and only a few people can fit. Moreover, everyone has their own shells.

27. But that's not all. There are even cooler places - these are luxury carriages, where each “room” has its own toilet and shower!

28. Voila. No wonder a luxury ticket costs the same as a business class flight to Berlin: 30,000 per person or 50,000 for an entire compartment.

29. In addition to a separate cabin with a shower, the suite differs from the SV in the presence of a TV and a safe. There is also a small table here. Just a table, not a sink.

30. Let's look a little at the details. Stop valve, glass breaker, speaker and air conditioner control. It is worth noting that on this train I completely forgot about the word “stuffy”. The air exchange system worked perfectly, so I slept well at night.

31. The sink, although small, is quite enough to wash your face and wash fruits/vegetables.

32. Hidden under the sink was a micro-trash bin the size of three volumes of War and Peace.

33. Side niche with 4 hangers for outerwear and a spacious luggage rack, in the corner of which there are folding tables.

34. The decision is controversial, since with the table installed, you will no longer be able to stand up or sit in the chair. Personally, I only took it out to take a photo.

35. This is what a spacious compartment for passengers with disabilities looks like.

36. Behind the door is a giant bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet.

37. And finally, the main party places of the train: the dining car and the bar car)

38. In one carriage there are seats with tables, in the other there is a kitchen and a bar counter.

39. The train will run twice a week, departing from Moscow's Kursky station on Saturdays and Sundays at 13:05 and arriving at Berlin Ostbahnhof station at 07:19 the next day local time.

I listened to the reporter’s speech for a long time, but he kept getting confused and talking some kind of nonsense. Then it turned out that he spoke Polish)

40. Now a few words about the trip itself and its rationality. Why travel 20 hours by train to Berlin when for the same money you can fly by plane many times faster? It's a good question, but in reality a situation could easily arise where such a trip would be justified. Let's imagine that I'm in Once again I’m going to film the Innotrans railway exhibition in Germany. Getting up at 3 o'clock in the morning, going to the airport, flying somewhere and then filming for another whole day - thank you, no need, I've been through this more than once. In order to be ready for work in the morning and arrive at Messe Berlin with full strength, you need to arrive on an evening flight, check into a hotel, and get some sleep.

I usually get to the airport in about two hours and try to arrive two hours before departure. The flight itself lasts 2.5 hours. All together, with customs control and baggage collection from home to the hotel, it takes 7-8 hours consistently. That is, in order to be able to sleep in Berlin at midnight and go to work in the morning, you need to leave the house at 5-6 pm.

Personally, the journey from home to my compartment took 29 minutes. I left at 12:30. At the same time, there were no procedures for checking in luggage, security screening, a sterile area, waiting for boarding, and so on. I entered the carriage, sat down and drove off. It turns out that the time loss is not so big, only about five hours. But what goodies! And you don’t have to pay for an extra night in a hotel in Berlin)

41. And in terms of comfort, a modern train is much more better than an airplane, there is nothing to say here. And there are no endless airport queues. Those who flew from Berlin or Frankfurt to Moscow will understand me.

42. Even a short flight cannot compare in the amount of running and fuss per minute.

44. On the train you can chat with interesting people, hang out in a restaurant, drink tea and have a leisurely conversation. On this trip I met a wonderful couple: Yulia and Igor. They regularly fly to Berlin to visit relatives and traveled to Germany by train for the first time. Yulia said that she had been waiting for this train for three years. The launch dates were constantly postponed. She called and wrote letters to Russian Railways asking when the train would be launched. Official responses came that the train was undergoing tests, and that every effort was being made to launch the new train as soon as possible. And so Yulia waited for the first flight)

45. We talked: “We are always in a hurry somewhere, running. We don’t allow ourselves pauses. We don’t have time to be alone with ourselves, with our loved one. Sit in silence, think about something. Look out the window. Flight to on an airplane is more like teleportation, and often the flight itself takes less time than the pre-flight procedures, and a train ride is a real journey. We also ordered a kitchen set in Germany, which costs 6 times more in Moscow. Here's how you can get it. home safe, if not on the train?

46. ​​I became thoughtful. Meanwhile, Russian pastoral scenes flashed outside the window.

47. The dining car was not empty the entire trip. At the same time, the audience was completely different. From businessmen with expensive watches to guys in flip-flops and sleepwear. I asked several visitors why they chose the train. Someone wanted to relax on the road, having reached Berlin without the bustle of airports. Someone needed to transport a lot of luggage. Two said that they always travel by train and see no reason to change their habits. The first flight was full to capacity - all tickets were purchased a couple of weeks before departure.

48. I managed to taste the local cuisine several times and was completely delighted. The only caveat of the first train is that the restaurant did not have time to debug the card payment system. I only had 500 rubles, which I exchanged for borscht. And then I had to look for kind people who exchanged me 50 euros for rubles. Otherwise, you would have to starve until Berlin, or look for homeless packages at the stalls at short stops in Orsha or Brest)

49. If you are interested in seeing the menu and prices, click on the photo.


50. While inspecting the train, having lunch and talking, time passed quickly. In the evening we were already at the Minsk train station.

51. The declared Wi-Fi worked, but did not allow me to access the Internet. There was another reason to take a break from work and the network. I watched a movie and talked with Igor and Yulia.

52. Among the shortcomings of the trip, I would like to note the slow passage Polish border. The Belarusians let us through quickly, but the Poles fussed and delayed the train for an hour. As a result, we managed to go to bed only after passport control at 2 am. Due to a delay in Berlin, we arrived 30 minutes late. It is clear that as the train runs in, these processes will be debugged, optimized and improved. And I didn’t even notice the process of changing the track.

At 7:40 on Sunday I was standing on the platform of Ostbahnhov station. A reagent containing marble chips was scattered underfoot. The police escorted the foul-smelling and staggering homeless man away. Some gopniks with broken and drunken faces tried to talk to me. It’s like I never left Moscow)

Well, would you like to ride one?

Dmitry Chistoprudov, Vostok photo agency. For questions regarding filming, please email

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