2. Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow-02.09.19

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2019 > 61. Holiday in Russia-29.08.05.09.19 > 2. Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow-02.09.19

This was a day that I had been looking forward to, a chance to tryout Russian Railway's Sapsan high speed train on a journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. This train uses classic lines that have been re-alligned, re- signalled and re-laid meaning that they can travel at up to 250 KMH. Russian Railways (RZD) are justifiably proud of Sapsan, it certainly knocks spots off our 'high speed' lines being excellent value and is proving incredibly popular with passengers judging by the full train and that bookings needed well in advance; we struggled to book our three seats four months prior to travel!

Click here to search The Archive Files

Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.

Frontage, St. Petersburg Moskovski station
The station on this site opened in 1851. This building was completed by 1855 and is the twin of Moscow's Leningradsky station with many trains both classic and Sapsan high-speed variants running between the two day and night. RZD (Russian railways) say that Moskovsky station is the third busiest in Russia and if the frantic nature of the roads and car park in front of the station, as seen in this scene was anything to go by I believe them!
Keywords: St. Petersburg Moskovsky station

Interior, St. Petersburg Moskovsky station
By contrast to its classical and grand exterior, the passenger concourse of St. Petersburg's Moskovsky station was more austere and modernist dating very much from the communist era. There was a good range of typical shops and a number of food outlets including a Subway that my son described as 'different' when he attempted to buy a sub! With the exception of the suburban platforms, access to the platforms was open once one had passed through the rigorous security controls.
Keywords: St. Petersburg Moskovsky station

EP2K-166, stabled, St. Petersburg Moskovsky station
One of Russian Railway's relatively new EP2K electric locomotives sits at the stops of St. Petersburg Moskovsky station having arrived with an unidentified service. This example, EP2K-166, was built at the huge Kolomna factory some 100km south-east of Moscow. With their one-piece windscreens and slab front they bear a resemblance to our own class 67.
Keywords: EP2K-166 St Petersburg Moskovsky station

EP2K-181, stabled, St. Petersburg Moskovski station
The lady standing next to EP2K-181 at St. Petersburg Moskovsky station makes you realise how large these locomotives are. This new design was launched in 2005 and, testament to its success, a further large order was placed in 2016. With some 6,400hp they are powerful locomotives that are designed to haul passenger trains all over the RZD network at speeds of up to 100mph. This particular example had arrived earlier with an unidentified working and was waiting for one of the station pilots to remove the stock from behind it.
Keywords: EP2K-181 St. Petersburg Moskovsky station

TZM18V-013, station pilot, St. Petersburg Moskovski station
Station pilot TZM18V-013 has brought empty stock in for a service that will leave St. Petersburg Moskovski station. There are thousands of these shunters on the RZD network that undertake a wide verity of duties from tasks such as this through to freight workings.
Keywords: TZM18V-013 St. Petersburg Moskovski station

EP2K-393, unidentified working, St. Petersburg Moskovsky station
EP2k-393 arrives at St. Petersburg Moskovsky station with an unidentified service from the south. With very few units in sight, it was pleasure to see that this station was largely full of long to medium distance loco-hauled trains. Bucking the trend throughout much of Europe, and the rest of the world for that matter, Russian Railways appears to be developing and expanding their locomotive-hauled trains but with the distances that they cover, I suppose this makes sense.
Keywords: EP2K-393 St. Petersburg Moskovsky station

TZM18V-052, station pilot, St. Petersburg Moskovski station
Station pilot TZM18V-052 removes the stock from an earlier arrival at St. Petersburg Moskovski station. I have not over processed this image in Photoshop, the under frames of both the stock and the locomotive are painted this universal grey colour. I am not sure if this paint had recently been applied but it did look very fresh. Having said this, all the trains I observed in Russia, with the possible exception of some of the Moscow suburban stock, was very clean and well maintained.
Keywords: TZM18V-052 St. Petersburg Moskovski station

EVS1-12, 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow (765A), St. Petersburg Moskovsky station
In a break from the usual grey livery applied to most RZD rolling stock, their headline trains, the EVS1 Sapsans are painted white. Looking purposeful sitting at St. Petersburg Moskovsky station EVS1-12, with another set attached to the rear, waits to leave with the 13.00 to Moscow. We took this train to the Russian capital city. Notice the grey suited staff standing by every coach door. Their job was to greet and admit passengers after scanning their passports or Russian ID cards and directing them to their seats. They also then travelled on the train in that carriage meaning a total of twenty RZD staff were on the train composed of two ten car sets; an unimaginable situation when compared to the UK! The Sapsans are a widened version of DB's ICE train, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/v/photos/21936chg/24262781204/x406054-13-29-frankfurt-hbf-amsterdam that takes full advantage of the generous Russian railway loading gauge. This wider body was noticeable inside the train with very generous seating and large gangways. In addition, the seats were very comfortable, Hitachi and other manufactures of UK trains need to take note!
Keywords: EVS1-12 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow 765A St. Petersburg Moskovsky station

TGM4-2554, shunting, Kolpino steel works
One of the older generation of shunters, TGM4-2554, is seen from the train in the exchange sidings at Kolpino steelworks to the South of St. Petersburg. Now painted in a blue livery indicates that it is privately operated as many of this class of shunter now are. The generous loading gauge on Russian railways allows the huge wagons, as seen behind the shunter, to be conveyed.
Keywords: TGM4-2554 Kolpino steel works

ZT2M-122, unidentified working, Bologoye station
Four-car ZT2M-122 stands at the far side of Bologoye station as we arrive on our Sapsan service to Moscow. The red barriers in the foreground separate our arrival platform from the rest of the station. RZD staff deal with passengers both alighting and embarking on the hi-speed Sapsan trains separately with all their details carefully scrutinised before being permitted on-board.
Keywords: ZT2M-122 Bologoye station

EVS1-12, 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow (765A), Bologoye station
On the Sapsan route from Moscow to St. Petersburg there are six intermediate stops. However, RZD have adopted a clever stopping pattern where different trains stop at different stations so that they are all served at least three times throughout the day in both directions. Some stations enjoy slightly more stops than others but at least there are no 'stoppers' that pause at all stations thus turning the much heralded rapid service into a slow one. The net result of this is that the fastest Sapsan does the four hundred mile journey in three hours and thirty five minutes making three stops whilst the lowest does it in four hours and four minutes making five stops. Here our ten coach train pauses at Bologoye a town of about twenty thousand people, a significant number of whom work on the railways. It is a major railway hub with a number of main lines crossing in the town that handles passenger and a lot of freight traffic.
Keywords: EVS1-12 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow 765A Bologoye station

TZM18M-1022, shunting, Bologoye yard
The yard at Bologoye was very large and full of line after line of wagons. There were a number of shunters going about their business such as this one, TZM18M-1022. It is marshalling what looks to be very similar to one of our own presflow cement wagons that used to frequent the UK network.
Keywords: TZM18M-1022 shunting Bologoye yard

3m 725 39, preserved, Tver station
A number of stations we passed included a former Soviet era steam locomotive on display as a reminder of the heritage of Russian railways. On the approach to Tver station an 0-10-0 locomotive, painted in black with red lining sits on a raised section of track. It carries the number 3m 725 39 but I have not been able to find anything out about this loco., if anybody can furnish me with any further information I would appreciate it.
Keywords: 3m 725 39 preserved Tver station

VL10-1851 & VL10-1722, stabled, Tver station
On the final approach to Tver station, there were a number of stabled electric locomotives. Probably the most interesting was this pair of VL10s dating from the 1960s. VL10-1722 is in its traditional Soviet-era green livery and looks every bit its age but for the removal of the red star from the nose. VL10-1851 looks slightly less dated in its revised RZD livery. These articulated locomotives were constructed at the Tbilisi locomotive works with a final batch at the Novocherkassk electric locomotive factory. Their class, NV, is named after the USSR's founding father, Vladimir Lenin.
Keywords: VL10-1851 VL10-1722 stabled Tver station

EVS01-12, 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow (765A), Tver station
Our train, the 13.00 St. Petersburg to Moscow pauses at Tver station. The on-board automated announcer stated quite clearly stated that the train would only be stoping for sixty seconds and that passengers must not leave the train unless departing at this this station, a message probably aimed at the many of Russia's smokers! Tver is a town of some 450, 000 thousand people about a hundred miles north-east of Moscow. It has a large wagon and carriage works as well as being a meeting point for a number of primary lines.
Keywords: EVS01-12 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow 765A Tver station

Vestibule & coach,-EVS1-12, 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow (765A), leaving Tver station
Looking down the coach inside Sapsan EVS1-12 from the vestibule reveals the extra width afforded by the generous Russian loading gauge. The trains, whilst having their speed capped at 155mph due to running on classic lines, may not offer the fastest 'hi-speed' services but were excellent. The speed was deceptive, indeed, I checked on my 'phone a number of times that we were at the advertised speed and, indeed, we were. The seats were roomy and very comfortable but the advertised wi-fi was all but useless, indeed, I gave up attempting to work on this web site and reverted to window gazing largely at the lines and lines of trees in view across the flatlands between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Keywords: Vestibule coach EVS1-12 13.00 St. Petersburg-Moscow 765A Tver station

Sapsan train, guide & chocolate
As well as an airline style in-house magazine, when taking your seat on a Sapsan hi-speed train, there was also this guide and a single piece of chocolate! There was also a set of headphones for use to access the on-board entertainment. The photograph on the cover of the leaflet shows a train on the embankment that crosses the Ivankovo reservoir near Novozavidovsky, this feeds in to the River Volga to the east.
Keywords: Sapsan train guide & chocolate

Tickets, St. Petersburg Moskovsky-Moscow Leningradskiy
Our tickets for the Sapsan journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow were bought on-line some months before our visit. These on-line tickets contain all the detail we expect including the bar code that was scanned by the RZD member of staff before we joined the train along with our passports. The cost of the tickets were RUR4130 that worked out to be £55 each. This is pretty good value for a four hundred mile journey on a hi-speed train in comfort and one that ran on-time to the minute!
Keywords: Tickets St. Petersburg Moskovsky-Moscow Leningradskiy

Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.