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 to Western Europe passing from Russian gauge 1520 to 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 leaves Berlin Ostbanhoff for 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.
* Train numbers used on German railways are indicated in brackets.
Connections 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 top 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.
There is an electronic check-in service on trains.
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:
- during the procedure for ordering electronic tickets after the “Payment” step simultaneously for all passengers specified in the order;
- again at any other time in the “Personal Account”;
- both simultaneously for all passengers specified in the order, and for individual e-tickets in order.
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:
- on the website in “Personal Account”;
- by obtaining a boarding pass (travel document) at a ticket office or self-service terminal on the territory of the Russian Federation.
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.
The first train in the history of Russian railways to change tracks in a matter of minutes, practically on the move. I took a ride in it with my daughter a month ago, and now I’ll share my impressions.
In principle, some of you have probably seen such trains. "Swifts" have been sailing from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod, and there are also a number of their routes in Kazakhstan. But such a train with a quick track change function first appeared on post-Soviet space. Which, of course, is strange, given the characteristics of our railway and the desire to integrate it with neighboring countries.. 
Due to the rapid passage of the border (instead of 3 hours it takes 15 minutes to change the track), as well as the acceleration of the schedule along almost the entire route, the route is very fast. Late in the morning at 11 o'clock you board in Moscow, and the next day early in the morning you arrive in Berlin. The train journey takes 22 hours in total. Therefore, by the way, it has some popularity in contrast to other similar trains.
The train has three classes of carriages: seated, compartment, luxury. The most popular, oddly enough, is the coupe! Of course, it’s only a thousand rubles more expensive than a seat, and the comfort is incomparable. As a result, seated carriages and SV carriages are empty, while life glimmers in the compartment carriages.
In fact, you can’t even call it wagons. More like "sections". Because they are all connected by open passages, and where one carriage begins and another ends is not easy to say. This is, of course, cool - these creepy, windy passages between cars in ordinary trains are so scary. 
But there are many complaints about the train. It's cramped and low. 
Here, let's say, is a corridor. To see what is happening outside the window, you have to hunch over. 
Instead of many folding seats, there is only one at the end of the car, not near the window. 
Our compartment. It's also a bit cramped. 
Hooks for coats are located near the windows. Which impairs the view. 
Actually, in the previous photos there was a bed in a folded state. This is generally a feature of all such sleeper trains. I remember even in the Argentine SV there was the same principle.
After you’ve eaten, you call a guide (well, really, here you can do it yourself), and he opens a pre-made sleeping shelf for you from the wall. In general, I can’t say that it’s convenient. It is, of course, wide and spacious - my daughter and I fit well together. But constantly closing and opening it for every reason is not very happy. 
Table for food. What is by the window is not intended for it. If you want to eat like a human being, remove the special shelf from above from the luggage compartment, insert it into the fastenings on the seats, and voila. Anya really enjoyed this process, it was her only joy. Then you put the shelf back into a special holder. 
Here's the luggage. (on the left you can just see these removable tables for eating). Imagine - there were three of us traveling in a compartment: me and Anya and the woman Anastasia - a Ukrainian from Kharkov living in Potsdam. 
We were lucky that there was no one else. If there were passengers in the upper seats, I can’t imagine where we would have shoved all our things and generally turned around. Nothing fits under the seats at all - it was difficult to push the stroller there. Not to mention the fact that when the top shelf is folded out, it’s no longer even possible to sit on the bottom one. 
And what seemed like a table was actually a sink. The only joy is that you don’t have to go to the other end of the carriage to brush your teeth, but do it on the spot. Well, all the dishes can be washed here too. 
Fortunately, the trip comes with a set of disposable toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as headphones. By the way, in the bed area there are buttons with a train radio, which you can listen to through these headphones. But there is not a lot of choice there. 
Toilet. Bio, of course. For some reason it was made with a twist. This is the first time I have come across such a system. 
Instead of traditional titans, there are neat water dispensers like in offices. 
Now you can pour some cold drinking water. My daughter loves these machines very much, she ran with a glass all the way here. 
Everywhere on the train there are signs in three languages. Russian, German, Polish. 
Why, according to this logic, there is no Belarusian and according to the normal logic of English (in which, by the way, all advertisements are duplicated) is not clear. 
But here it’s only in Russian. PID is not interested in the opinions of foreigners. 
Interestingly, almost all surfaces are decorated with logos of cities passed along the route. 
Even all the compartments are also dedicated to some cities along the route. 
For example, we were traveling in Minsk. 
Let's walk along the train 
The seating carriage is almost empty. Well, it’s logical: riding for that kind of money in a chair for a whole day is definitely a perversion. Then you can choose the plane. Although the seats are, of course, comfortable, they cannot be compared with airplane ones. If you drive for 5-7 hours, you can’t think of better transport. 
The train TV channel shows Mimino. "Chita-rita-chita-margarita-la!" 
Dining car. Prices are outrageous. 
Better than traditional chicken. Or buy potato pancakes from grandmothers at the station, as I did. 
Unused SV. 
As the conductor explained to me, this is a family-type compartment. Behind the door is another bedroom. Or a shower. Which, by the way, is available in some suites. 
There is Wi-Fi on the train. Yes Yes! And it works well. The header site, which opens when connected, shows the characteristics of the train: where exactly we are going, at what speed, what interesting places we are passing. You can watch and read about them. 
Tables with a running line. 
Technical section at the end of the lineup. No entry. 
Landing on Belorussky railway station. From one route passengers go to Kubinka, and from the other... a little further. 
The conductors lined up just like on Chinese trains. 
We wave to our mother, who is seeing us off. 
Well, let's get going. Let's wave to the new symbol of Moscow. 
The train does not make stops from Moscow to Smolensk. They ate, slept, and woke up to find the junction of the branch from Spas-Demensk to Dukhovskoy, and then the Bryansk-Roslavl-Smolensk highway. 
Traditional gateway to Europe. It’s really difficult for me to perceive this glorious city in any other capacity. 
The Smolensk Kremlin looms in the background. 
We only stand for 5 minutes. 
Well, another country has begun - Orsha. There is a change of crews, so we stand for a long time - 15 minutes. 
Grandmothers sell potato pancakes and apples from the garden. There is something about it - traveling on a fashionable train to bourgeois Europe and buying provisions from the grandmothers at the station. By the way, they accept any currency - both euros and Russian rubles. 
Actually, the brigade is in the process of changing. 
Minsk. Here our carriage has been significantly replenished. Still would! This express is generally very convenient for Minsk residents. This is a night train - you get on at 9 pm, and at 7 am you are already in Berlin. 
Changing tires in Brest. A workshop with a traditional train can be seen in the background. Compared to ours, this fumbling around with carts already seems like something so dense and backward. 
I kept trying to catch the moment of changing the track. They wrote to me that there should be some kind of click. But no - absolutely nothing was heard! We drove into the workshop, walked through it, and stood up. We stood there for 5 minutes. Then we drove another 100-200 m and stood. And let's move on! There were no sounds or shocks even close. So it’s even somewhat boring - the traditional process of changing gauge looks much more interesting and spectacular (even if your car is lifted in the middle of the night by a mechanic with wrenches on jacks).
Border control is quick and unnoticeable. In Brest, border guards and customs officers enter the station. While the wheels are being changed, they quickly go around everyone, check them, collect passports, and stamp them. And then, near the border itself, the train stops at the border control office, where they get off. In Brest itself, parking is 15 minutes. But on the Polish side in Terespol everything is already traditional: a 40-minute stop, during which the border guards pass the train. 
In the morning we woke up when the train was already approaching Frankfurt. We just passed through Poland like a whirlwind. I just woke up in the middle of the night for a couple of minutes when we were standing on Warsaw-Wschodnia. And so, he still has a stop in Poznan. It’s also interesting that when we entered Poland, we rushed briskly, accelerating to 155 km/h, despite the fact that in Russia and Belarus we were driving 110-120. I wonder why this is so? Why can’t we speed up traffic on the main line to similar speeds?
However, I didn’t think of taking a photo of the Frankfurt station, and it was still dark. But very soon we reached Berlin. Treptow-Park station, where a giant memorial dedicated to the Second World War is located. 
The main station in East Berlin in the past is Lichtenberg. According to the plan, we were not supposed to have a parking lot here, but due to repairs we stopped here. At this time, a passenger from the next compartment became ill, and we waited for the ambulance to arrive. We left here about 20 minutes later. A neighbor used the parking lot and got off here. From here it is a direct link to Potsdam, and from Ostbahnhof it is very inconvenient to move to other routes, since there are no elevators or escalators (which we later experienced). 
And here, there it was. 
General impressions. It's fun to go for a ride, of course. But nothing more. The experience of traveling to non-Russian Europe on such a fast train is certainly interesting. But, objectively, it is a little expensive and cramped, although it is quite comfortable. By plane, and especially with transfers in Brest or Grodno, it will be much cheaper.
The logistics of it, when you are amazed at how the same cars first travel between Pererva electric trains and Tatneft tanks, and then rub side by side with the S7 line of the Es-Bahn, after traveling on , are no longer so impressive. Then, whatever you say, it was huge.
However, I still plan to test “French” trains from Moscow. 
Well, and finally, I’ll answer a question that, of course, interests everyone.
12700 costs a compartment on this train for the entire route.
The top shelf is 700 rubles cheaper.
A sitter costs about 10 thousand,
luxury - about 18.
A ticket from Minsk will cost from 7 thousand.
In fact, it cost me twice as much. Children under 4(!) years old travel on international Russian Railways trains for free. A plane ticket would cost almost the full amount. So I took advantage of the elusive opportunity (Anya will be 4 years old in February). 
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.
Photos and text Dmitry Chistoprudov
1. On 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 now goes to 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. 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.
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.
6. To avoid ice in the Russian climate, the wheels are blown with warm air (approximately 38 degrees).
7. 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.
8. 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.
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.
9. 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.
10. Passenger cars look no less cosmic.
11. The entire train has a through passage, while the Euro size imposes its own limitations - 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.
12. 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.
13. View from the other side.
14. If in the unfolded state of the shelves such a compartment resembles our Russian trains, then the similarity ends there.
15. Instead of the usual table - a sink with a tap!
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. SV also has its own sink.
20. Option with folded beds. Interesting feature: If anyone can unfold a 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 riding while sitting with the beds unfolded turned out to be cramped - your head rests on the top bunk. Therefore, either lie on the beds, or fold up the shelves and ride while sitting in chairs. I used the folding ladder as a laptop table.
21. 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).
22. 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. But that is not all. There are even cooler places - these are luxury carriages, where each “room” has its own toilet and shower!
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. Let's look a little at the details. Stop valve, glass breaker, speaker and air conditioner control. It’s 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.
26. The sink, although small, is quite enough to wash your face and wash fruits/vegetables.
27. Hidden under the sink was a micro-trash bin the size of three volumes of War and Peace.
28. Side niche with 4 hangers for outerwear and a spacious luggage rack, in the corner of which there are folding tables.
29. 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.
30. This is what a spacious compartment for passengers with disabilities looks like.
31. Behind the door is a giant bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet.
32. And finally, the main party places of the train are the dining car and the bar car)
33. In one carriage there are seats with tables, in the other there is a kitchen and a bar counter.
34. 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)
35. 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 once again 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 checks, sterile zones, 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)
36. 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.
37. Even a short flight cannot compare in the amount of running and fuss per minute.
39. We started talking: “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 and think about something. Look out the window. Flying on an airplane is more like teleportation, and often the flight itself takes less time than pre-flight procedures, but traveling by train is a real journey. We also ordered a kitchen set from Germany; in Moscow it costs 6 times more. How can you get the service home safe, if not by train?”
40. 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.
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)
41. While inspecting the train, having lunch and talking, time passed quickly. In the evening we were already at the Minsk station. The advertised 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.
42. Among the shortcomings of the trip, I would like to note the slow passage of the 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 with 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)
The Strizh train is a Talgo Intercity high-speed train, acquired by Russian Railways and adapted for Russian and European railways. Talgo Intercity trains are actively used by European railway companies. Meets all modern requirements for trains, has high speed, comfortable cars.
On November 17, the Strizh train was launched in the Moscow-Berlin direction. The train has 20 cars, of which 18 are passenger cars. The gauge size in the Russian Federation and European countries differs, therefore, when passing the border in Brest, the train undergoes an automated change to the European gauge. The total procedure is only 30
Train route. Travel time.
The train departs from Moscow-Kurskaya station twice a week. Travel time is 20 hours 14 minutes. In the future, it is planned to reduce the travel time to 16 hours. "Strizh" passes Smolensk, Minsk, Brest and Warsaw, the final station is Berlin East Station. The length of the route is 1896 km.
Despite the speed of air travel from Moscow to Berlin, many people prefer to travel by train. This comes with many advantages. By train, customs control is faster, which takes place right on the way. Passengers have the opportunity to relax in comfortable compartments, sleep en route, and dine in the dining car. Another important plus is the ability to transport hand luggage.
Strizh train schedule
"Strizh" departs from Moscow Kurskaya station on Saturdays and Sundays at 13:05. The train arrives in Berlin at 7:19 on Sunday and Monday respectively.
In Berlin, departures are at 18:50 on Sunday and Monday. Arrival at Moscow Kurskaya station occurs at 17:25 on Monday and Tuesday. The train route goes like this: does not cross the borders of Ukraine.
The train passes through the stations of Smolensk, Orsha, Minsk, Brest, Terespol, Warsaw, Poznan, Rzepin, Frankfurt on the Oder. Customs and border control is carried out in Brest and Terespol.
Car layout
The Moscow-Berlin Strizh train has 18 passenger carriages, which can accommodate 216 people. This:
- buffet;
- restaurant;
- five 2nd class carriages equipped with sleeping berths;
- two 1st class carriages, seats;
- four 1st class SVs equipped with berths;
- two luxury class carriages with sleeping places, toilet, shower;
- three luxury class carriages equipped with compartments for the passage of people with disabilities.
All carriages have environmentally friendly bathrooms, video monitors and audio systems. For an additional fee, you can access the Internet via Wi-Fi.
Numbering when traveling from Moscow is from the head of the train. From Berlin - from the tail.
Luxury carriage
In each compartment:
- 2 sleeping places;
- table;
- sockets;
- safe.
Luxury carriage with seats for disabled people
Hot food, a set of towels, bed sheets, a blanket and a hygiene kit are included in the price.
In each compartment:
- 2 sleeping places;
- personal bathroom with shower, washbasin and toilet;
- TV with a choice of films;
- table;
- sockets;
- safe.
SV carriage, 1st class
Consists of 6 double compartments. Hot food, a set of towels, bed sheets, a blanket and a hygiene kit are included in the price.
In each compartment:
- 2 sleeping places;
- TV with a choice of films;
- table;
- sockets;
- safe.
1st class carriage with seats
Hot meals, blankets, hygiene kits are provided free of charge
Each place is equipped with:
- adjustable headrest, backrest and footrest;
- folding table;
- lighting system;
- audio system;
- socket.
2nd class carriage with sleeping berths
Consists of 4 four-seater compartments and one two-seater. Food, drinks, printed publications are provided for a fee.
Each compartment contains:
- lighting systems (general and personal);
- table;
- audio system;
- sockets;
- air conditioning system.
Additionally, the train includes a restaurant car with 30 seats and a buffet car. Passengers can order hot dishes, salads, snacks, desserts and drinks.
Buy a ticket to Russian Railways.
The cost of train travel depends on the chosen location and time of travel. The cost is estimated in Euros, converted into rubles at the current exchange rate when purchasing a ticket.
The price of a standard adult ticket without discounts and special offers is (in euros):
- 323.50 for a seat in a Suite;
- 227.92 for a place in the NE;
- 155.04 per seat in 1st class;
- 177 for a seat in a 2nd class carriage.
The cost of a ticket for a child in each case is half that of an adult.
Compartments in Luxury 1st class carriages can be purchased in full with a small extra charge:
- 353.50 for Lux;
- 266.50 for a 1st class compartment.
Discounts on the Strizh train
It is possible to purchase a ticket for the Swift train at a good discount using one of the current offers. Discounts are provided in the following cases:
- 30% when purchasing a compartment by 2 passengers;
- 30% for persons over 60 and from 12 to 25 years old;
- 40% when purchasing tickets for 6 passengers;
- 50-40% when purchasing tickets for children in a group;
- 20% for groups of 2-5 people;
- 35% discount on birthday +/-7 days;
- 35% discount within a month after the wedding;
- 5% on all top shelves;
- 10% when purchasing a ticket 60-45 days in advance.
Discounts on tickets are not cumulative and are applied sequentially.
Boarding and traveling on the train
Passengers are advised to arrive at the station in advance to board the Swift. The passenger must present the conductor with a foreign passport and ticket. It is recommended to read in advance customs regulations, rules for transporting animals, in order to avoid problems.
Rules for traveling with children
All passengers have the opportunity to carry free transportation of 1 child under 4 years of age, without the provision of an additional seat. It is advisable to buy a coupe for a trip with a small child, for greater comfort. Children are not allowed to travel unless accompanied by an adult. Animals must have an electronic ID.
Rules for traveling with animals
Carriage of small domestic animals and birds is allowed in the amount of no more than 2 per place. The passenger must have an international passport for the animal being transported. Passengers are required to comply with all necessary sanitation and hygiene rules when traveling with pets.
Disabled spaces
The train has special carriages with compartments for disabled people and their accompanying persons. The compartment for disabled people has a large amount of space and an enlarged bathroom.
How to buy a ticket for the Strizh train?
Purchasing tickets for the Moscow-Berlin Strizh train is available a maximum of 60 days before boarding. You can purchase a travel document directly through the Russian Railways website or through any other convenient service. You can also buy a ticket directly at the box office. Electronic ticket sales stop one hour before the departure of the train.
Electronic registration is carried out along the entire route and is available no more than 1 hour after departure from the first station of the route.
Border crossing.Customs and passport control
When crossing the border, all passengers undergo mandatory customs and passport control. Passengers are required to present a passport and a valid visa. The inspection takes place while the train is moving.
To cross the border of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens are required to fill out a customs declaration and a migration card.
Baggage on the train
Passengers have the right to carry hand luggage. Hand luggage must not contain prohibited products or goods in excess of permitted customs standards.
Goods worth 1,500 Euros and weighing over 50 kg, jewelry, securities, weapons, over 3 liters of alcohol, narcotic substances, etc. are required to be declared.
If you need to issue a VAT refund for goods purchased in EU countries, you must prepare them for inspection. You must also attach a sales receipt and a Tax Free form.
Answers to frequently asked questions
How to purchase a ticket?
To do this, follow these steps on our website:
- set a route, select a suitable date in the section;
- find the corresponding train and carriage;
- choose a place;
- enter your data;
- check the entered information, pay by credit card;
- receive a ticket by email, print it or save it on your mobile device;
- When boarding, present your ticket along with your foreign passport.
Is it possible to purchase a ticket for the Swift Moscow-Berlin with a Russian passport?
It is forbidden. Passengers cross state borders, so purchasing tickets is only possible with a foreign passport or other document permitting travel outside the country.
What documents are needed?
The main document is a passport. All passengers are also required to fill out a migration form indicating their full name, citizenship and purpose of travel.
Do you need a visa?
Do Russians need a visa, definitely yes. This is a mandatory condition for crossing the Russian state border. But to buy an international ticket, a visa is not required, your passport data is enough, but on a trip to cross the border with another state, a visa is required.
How to register electronically for Swift?
If, when purchasing a ticket for the Strizh train, the passenger did not uncheck the “pass electronic registration", then it will be carried out automatically. If such registration is not required, you can uncheck the box. When checking in automatically, the passenger only needs to present a ticket and an international passport.
How to return a train ticket?
All purchased electronic tickets for the Swift train can be easily returned online by clicking on the link that was sent by mail or via SMS message.
Paid fees are not refundable, Russian Railways additionally charges a commission, fee and penalty for the return. The amount of fees, commissions and fines depends on the remaining time before departure.
