Russia Rail Pass - Russia Rail PassesRussia Rail Pass - Russia Rail Passes Russia or Россия or Rossiya or the Russian Federation is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, covering over 17,125,191 square kilometres (6,612,073 sq mi), and encompassing one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and borders sixteen sovereign nations, the most of any country in the world. It is the ninth-most populous country and the most populous country in Europe, with a population of 145.5 million. The country's capital and largest city, Moscow, is also the largest city entirely within Europe. Saint Petersburg is Russia's cultural centre and second-largest city. Other major urban areas include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. Russia was the sixteenth-most visited country in the world, and the tenth-most visited country in Europe. According to Federal Agency for Tourism, the number of inbound trips of foreign citizens to Russia amounted to 24.4 million in 2019. Russia's international tourism receipts in 2018 amounted to $11.6 billion. In 2020, tourism accounted for about 4% of country's total GDP. Major tourist routes in Russia include a journey around the Golden Ring of Russia, a theme route of ancient Russian cities, cruises on large rivers such as the Volga, hikes on mountain ranges such as the Caucasus Mountains, and journeys on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. Russia's most visited and popular landmarks include Red Square, the Peterhof Palace, the Kazan Kremlin, the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and Lake Baikal. Enjoy rail travel in Russia, where visitors can marvel at the vast openness of this huge country and spend a magical weekend in Moscow. Moscow or Москва́ is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17 million within the urban area. Moscow is one of Russia's federal cities. Moscow, the nation's cosmopolitan capital and historic core, is a bustling megacity. It retains its classical and Soviet-era architecture, while boasting high art, world class ballet, and modern skyscrapers. Saint Petersburg, the Imperial capital, is famous for its classical architecture, cathedrals, museums and theatres, nice cosy night trains, criss-crossing rivers and numerous canals. Russia is famed worldwide for its rich museums, such as the State Russian Museum, the State Hermitage museum, and the Tretyakov Gallery and for theatres such as the Bolshoi theatre and the Mariinsky theatre. The Moscow Kremlin and the Saint Basil's Cathedral are among the cultural landmarks of Russia. Russian culture has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and philosophers have played an important role in the development of European thought. The Russians have also greatly influenced classical music, ballet, sport, painting and cinema. The nation has also made pioneering contributions to science and technology and space exploration. Popular routes bring you to these stunning landscapes. Railway transport in Russia is mostly under the control of the state-run Russian Railways. The total length of common-used railway tracks is the world's third-longest, and exceeds 87,000 km (54,100 mi). As of 2016, Russia has the world's fifth-largest road network, with some 1,452.2 thousand km of roads, while its road density is among the world's lowest. Russia's inland waterways are the world's second-longest, and total 102,000 km (63,380 mi). Among Russia's 1,218 airports, the busiest is Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, which is the second-busiest airport in Europe. Russia's largest port is the Port of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai along the Black Sea. Russia has the world's third-largest railway network, behind only the United States and China, with a total track length of 85,600 kilometres (53,200 mi) as of 2019. It uses a broad rail gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in). Electrified track accounts for around half of the Russian railway network this now totals 43,800 kilometres (27,200 mi) this now carries the majority of railway traffic. Russian Railways, the state-owned national rail carrier, is one of the world's largest transport companies, enjoying a monopoly over rail transport in Russia. Established in 1992, it employs an estimated 950,000 people, and accounted for 2.5% of the entire national GDP in 2009. In 2007 alone, Russian Railways carried a total of 1.3 billion passengers and 1.3 billion tons of freight on its common-carrier routes. Russian Railways or ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»)or OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services. The company was established on 18 September 2003, when a decree was passed to separate the upkeep and operation of the railways from the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation. RZD is based in Moscow at Novaya Basmannaya str., 2. The operating units of the central part of the staff are at Kalanchevskaya str., 35. Several train stations serve the city. Moscow's nine rail terminals (or vokzals) are: Belorussky Railway Station Kazansky Railway Station Kiyevsky Railway Station Kursky Railway Station Leningradsky Railway Station Paveletsky Railway Station Rizhsky Railway Station Savyolovsky Railway Station Yaroslavsky Railway Station The terminals are located close to the city center, along the metro ringline 5 or close to it, and connect to a metroline to the centre of town. Each station handles trains from different parts of Europe and Asia. There are many smaller railway stations in Moscow. As train tickets are cheap, they are the preferred mode of travelling for Russians, especially when departing to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. Moscow is the western terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which traverses nearly 9,300 kilometres (5,800 mi) of Russian territory to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. Suburbs and satellite cities are connected by commuter elektrichka (electric rail) network. Elektrichkas depart from each of these terminals to the nearby (up to 140 km or 87 mi) large railway stations. During the 2010s, the Little Ring of the Moscow Railway was converted to be used for frequent passenger service. It is fully integrated with Moscow Metro. There is a connecting railway line on the North side of the town that connects Belorussky terminal with other railway lines. This is used by some suburban trains. The Greater Ring of the Moscow Railway forms a ring around the main part of Moscow Rossia Rapid-Transit Systems
Also, there is a Metro tram system in Volgograd and three more cities with metro systems under construction: Russia Rail links with adjacent countries Voltage of electrification systems not necessarily compatible.
Russian Railways Long Distance Travel Russian Railways or RZD has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel, with its subsidiary, Federal Passenger Company, accounting for 90% of total passenger turnover in 2017. Passenger transportation accounted for 10.6% of the RZD revenue in 2017. The long-distance passenger fleet includes 19,386 rail cars as of 2017, with an average age of 19.1 years. Over 60% of long-distance passengers travel in third-class sleeping carriages. The long-distance rail passenger business is under increasing competition from airlines, due to their aggressive domestic pricing policies and generally shorter travel times for routes under 1,000 km. International rail passenger traffic dropped from 19.4 million passengers in 2013 to 6.8 million in 2017. In 2005–2010, JSC Russian Railways has launched a program to introduce new high-speed trains. The first train, Sapsan Train (peregrine falcon train), commenced service in December 2009 and connects Saint Petersburg to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod and is operated with trains manufactured by the German company Siemens. The second train, Allegro Train, has run from St. Petersburg to Helsinki (Finland) via the city of Vyborg since December 2010 and is owned and operated together with the Finnish VR Group. Sapsan train or Peregrine Falcon train were the most successful passenger train of JSC Russian Railways with occupancy rate of 84.5% (according to RZD in 2010) and profitability of 30%. Fares on Long Distance Trains Passenger tariffs (except for travelling in the stateroom, sleeping cars and VIP-cars) are approved by the State, represented by the Federal Tariff Service with social orientation of its traffic operations below cost. Passenger fare is divided into two components: «ticket» (which includes the cost of transport infrastructure, locomotive traction and the Station component) and «reserved seat» (service of transport company, which is the owner of the car). Since 2003, the flexible schedule tariffs (FST) to travel on long-distance trains is used:
FST is calculated in such a way as to stimulate passengers to undertake a trip on the date with the lowest index. In 2010 and 2011, the average weighted index for calendar periods was 0.97 and the average volume of passenger traffic – 1.00. According to the JSC Russian Railways statement, the passenger transportation – except for some highly profitable directions – is unprofitable. These losses are partly compensated from the budget, and for the most part – with the help of cross-subsidies by income from freight. Suburban passenger companies Since 2009, RZD is not a direct carrier of suburban passengers. Suburban transport is now operated by passenger companies founded by the executive agencies of the Russian Federation, Russian Railways and private investors. As of 2016, there are 25 suburban passenger companies (SPC), and Russian Railways owns a majority stake in 19 of them. Especially for the SPC a zero tariff for the use of railway infrastructure was introduced. Russian Railways receives 25 billion rubles subsidies as compensation annually from the State. Commuter traffic in the whole network increased in 2011 on 5.6% and is about 878.33 million people. Passenger turnover rail in the Russian regions ranges from 5% to 30% in total passenger traffic Central Suburban Passenger Company Central Suburban Passenger Company (CSPC or Центральная пригородная пассажирская компания) is a Russian commuter railway company. CSPC covers over half of all suburban transportation in Russia, carrying over 500 million passengers in 2011. Businessman Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev own CSPC. CSPC operates in 10 Russian regions, and in 2013 it had an 80% share of the Moscow rail commuter market. Railways in Crimea are controlled by Crimea Railway, a separate company. According to the data from the Maritime Board (Morskaya Kollegiya) of the Russian Government, in 2004, 136.6 million tons of cargo were carried that year over Russia's inland waterways, the total cargo transportation volume being 87,556.5 million ton-km. During that same year, 53 companies were engaged in carrying passengers over Russia's inland waterways, they transported 22.8 million passengers, the total volume of river passenger transportation being 841.1 million passenger-km. Black Sea and Sea of Azov Baltic Sea White Sea, Barents Sea, and other seas of the Arctic Ocean Seas of the Pacific Ocean Caspian Sea Russia 1 Country Pass Eurail Russia Pass (There is no Interrail Russia pass at present) Eurail 2 Country Select Pass Russia 2 Countries Pass Discover Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden by train. If you want to get a taste of 2 different cultures on a single trip, choose the Eurail Two Country Select Pass (previously called the Eurail Regional Pass). This pass lets you discover 2 bordering European countries by train and offers the best value if you want to focus your adventure on a specific part of Europe Pick your itinerary and travel to three popular cities in Europe: Moscow, Stockholm, Bergen, Zagreb and Ljubljana European East Pass Make your way through picturesque scenery with unlimited train travel in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. Central Europe Triangle Pass Discover some of the most popular destinations in Central Europe as you travel between Vienna, Prague and Budapest or Salzburg The Central Europe Triangle Pass Eurail 3 Country Select Pass Russia 3 Countries Pass Travel in 3 bordering countries in Europe. Delve deeper into the culture, landscape, and everyday life of 1 region in Europe. With the Eurail Three Country Select Pass you can narrow your trip to 3 bordering countries Eurail 4 Country Select Pass Russia 4 Countries Pass Travel in 4 bordering countries in Europe. Travel by train in 4 European countries with the Eurail Four Country Select Pass. You can pick the 4 bordering countries you'd like to visit below Balkan Flexi Pass 7 Countries Pass Visit Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey in first class. Eurail Global Rail Pass 33 Countries Pass Enjoy train travel in 33 countries with this one pass! | |||||
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