22 Nov 2009 
Support Center » Knowledgebase » Transportation » How to Buy Train Tickets for Russia?
 How to Buy Train Tickets for Russia?
Solution Easy. You just need a copy of your passport (or the passport number and full name). Note you can only buy tickets not earlier than 45 days before departure. Basically, you have two options:

1) Go to any train station in Russia, look out for "Biletnaya Kassa" and buy it yourself. The advantage is the cheapest prices, the disadvantages are that nobody there speaks any language other than Russian, you are likely to queue anything from 5 to 45 minutes, and if you are traveling on a popular route your tickets might not be readily available. Especially if you're traveling Trans-Siberian don't rely on train stations ticket offices for longhaul routes. The best you can get there is a local train between two cities 2-3 days in advance during the high season (May - September and holidays).

2) Use a travel agency. They usually charge from $5 to $50 on top of the railway price. The reason for this is that the Russian Railways are monopolists who only run trains and don't believe in marketing, better customer service or anything like that. That's why you have to pay for the service you are provided not them. To avoid being overcharged (which might happen if you order your train ticket through an agency based outside of Russia) it makes sense to check the general level of prices beforehand. Keep in mind though that the Russian Railways prices fluctuate so much you might get a ticket for $30 at one moment, and then for $90 at another. Maybe they are using some exquisite real-time demand-supply regulation mechanism, which is the latest feat of the Soviet engineers, we will never know that... The fact is that it's better to find a travel agency based in Russia and ask them to purchase a ticket for you. Check if they provide delivery or office pick up as well, and if you can pay with a credit card. It's also better to buy tickets from professionals. Sometimes a $50 paid on top of the ticket may result in your getting a really good and fast train. The agencies that charge $5 on top are cheap but they won't really bother about the train they order for you. It makes sense though if you're going to travel just from Moscow to Vladimir (3 hours) for example. But for things like Trans-Siberian, especially if you require stopover or go to China, choose the agencies that specialize in this kind of stuff.

There's much more info available at our Russian Trains Guide and you can buy tickets online from our carefully selected advertisers through Train Tickets Reservation or by sending a request through this Support Helpdesk.

Article Details
Article ID: 19
Created On: 02 Mar 2006 01:56 AM

 This answer was helpful  This answer was not helpful

 User Comments Add a Comment
Posted By: Jim Douglas On: 17 May 2006 01:39 PM
This is all very well but when you order the tickets and receive no reply after almost 2 weeks, after having given your payment details on this very website. I would definitely not recommend buying train tickets through this website as you never know where you stand. I do not have a grudge against this website, they were very helpful when it came to getting a visa but for trains you are probably best going to another site or ringing an agent who can actually be contacted.


WAYTORUSSIA REPLY:

Thank you for your criticism.

We do not sell train tickets ourselves. You choose the agency that you want to forward your request to when you submit your order. Meaning that if they didn't reply to you, they wouldn't do it either if you contacted them directly.
We work with ALL the major train ticket agencies who are able to sell train tickets online, so there's no point really trying to find some others because most likely they are already represented on our site.

In order for us to see what happened, please, send me to dimas AT waytorussia DOT net the number of the request that you submitted. I'll see which agency it was referred to and ask them why they haven't replied to you. Maybe they did and it didn't get to your e-mail or went into spam folder or something. Anyway, if I have the number of the order I'll be able to check it.
 Login [Lost Password] 
Email:
Password:
Remember Me:
 
 Search
 Article Options
 Add Comment
 Print Article
 PDF Version
 Email Article
 Add to Favorites




Home | Register | Send a Request | Knowledgebase | Troubleshooter | News | Downloads
Language:

Help Desk Software By Kayako eSupport v3.00.32