RZD launches ticket sales for high-speed Sapsan train.
On 18 December 2009, the high-speed Sapsan train service will be launched on the Moscow – St Petersburg – Moscow route. Ticket sales for the Sapsan trains are now open. The first journeys will begin at 06:45 in the morning, when two trains will depart simultaneously from Moscow and St Petersburg. The journey time will be 3 hours 45 minutes. The trains are scheduled to depart from Moscow stations three times daily:
- at 06:45 (arriving at St Petersburg at 10:30);
- at 13:00 (arriving at St Petersburg at 17:15);
- at 19:00 (arriving at St Petersburg at 22:45).
Trains from St Petersburg to Moscow will follow an equivalent timetable (with departures from St Petersburg at 06:45, 13:00, and 19:00). Each train has 10 carriages, of which two are first class and eight are second class. Basic ticket prices are $185 for first class and $115 for second class. For the first week of the service, from 18 to 25 December, tickets will be sold at a discount.
The price of a first class ticket includes hot food (passengers will have a choice of meals), reading materials, internet access, travel packs (containing ear plugs, eye masks, and slippers) and children’s packs. Passengers in second class carriages can order hot food from the bistro carriage for additional payment, use the internet, order taxis, and watch and listen to video and audio programmes. In addition, while travelling on the Sapsan, passengers can purchase tickets for other trains.
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The Sapsan is a high-speed electric train of the Velaro RUS series produced by the company Siemens Transportation Systems, and capable of a maximum speed of 250 km/h. A contract for the delivery of eight trains of the Velaro RUS series was signed by RZD and Siemens Transportation Systems in May 2006. The contract was worth 276 million euros. In April 2007, a contract was signed for the technical servicing of trains over a 30 year period, to the sum of 354.1 million euros. With the launch of the Sapsan train, the journey time between Moscow and St Petersburg will be 3 hours 45 minutes. Currently, the travel time is between 4 hours 30 minutes and 8 hours. The average time for a journey from Moscow to St Petersburg by plane (taking into account trips to and from the airport, flight registration, and flying time) is not less than 5 hours.
