Cost of the Sapsan from moscow to St Petersburg

Previous page: Leaving Moscow

 

Sapsan train to St Petersburg

We wandered back slowly from our late lunch, heading in the direction of Leningradsky station, the important one where the fast Sapsan train runs from.

There were two Sapsans leaving within 15 minutes of each other. Our was the second one, leaving at 4:45p.m. We said our sad goodbyes to Mubin.

 

Cost of tickets on the Sapsan

Ours cost less than the one that was leaving at 4:30 p.m. Perhaps our train stops at places and maybe the cost is less for that reason. The tickets cost us 2800 roubles each which is quite expensive but it is a birthday treat for Ian. These are "Economy" tickets too by the way.

 

 

 

The train is just like a plane inside but more roomy. It apparently travels up to 250 km per hour but so far we've not seen any speeds above 220kph. We are on the sunny side of the train and we are travelling backwards. We might have guessed! Just our luck!

Added later:

The day of the week and the time of day are important factors when buying your ticket on the Sapsan. Prices are variable. When you book your seat on the Sapsan try to ask for a seat facing the right direction and also one that doesn't have the pillar/curtain next to it. If you are paying a huge amount of money for your ticket then you need a decent seat.

 

Each Sapsan has 10 carriages. Two of the carriages are First Class and the other eight are Economy Class. It is 250 metres long and can carry up to 600 passengers. It actually set a record at one stage in 2009 of 280 kph. The train, one of the Velaro RUS series, is a joint project between Russia's railway monopoly RZD and Germany's Siemens company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally I found the seats a bit hard and uncomfortable but Ian thought they were alright. There is a screen at each end of the carriage and it tells you the speed of the train and the outside temperature. When our journey first started it was quite warm in the train but eventually it cooled off a bit. I think for a train of such calibre its air-conditioning system should have been a lot more efficient. I was glued to the screen watching how fast we were going and noticing how the outside temperature was cooling off very fast. Part way on the journey the skies began to change. It was clear we had left a hot, sunny city and we were going to end up in a cool, wet city. But that was fine. We had no real complaints as the weather had been very good to us all the way across Russia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saint Petersburg International Hostel

We arrived in St Petersburg at 9 p.m. It was drizzling lightly. We had the directions in our hands for the Saint Petersburg International Hostel. Their directions were to take the first street on the right after exiting the railway station so we did just that. The rest of the directions just didn't add up. Consequently we wandered around getting lost. Luckily a helpful lady pointed us in the right direction. Also we were lucky in that the drizzle got lighter and lighter until it finally stopped. It turns out we should have taken the second street to the right of the station and not the first.

Added later:

I notice the hostel have taken the incorrect directions off their web site now. I wonder how many others have got lost??

Our room is quite large, faces the street, has three single beds and is clean. We are heading to bed as we are very tired.

 

Next page - Saint Petersburg International Hostel

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