The Loooooooongest R########AILWAYS of the World

WHAT IS THE TRANS SIBERIAN RAILROAD

Trans-Siberian railway (usually called TransSib in Russia) is the world's longest and the most famous train route that goes through Russia. It crosses the whole continent, starts in Moscow, passes through the European Russia, crosses Urals mountains (which separate Europe and Asia), continues into Siberia's taiga and steppes, and finishes in Vladivostok — the Russian Far East coast on the Pacific Ocean.

The Trans-Siberian is an immense route: along more than 9000 kilometers of its length you will see different landscapes, meet many different people and cultures (especially, if you hop off the train at few points), experience magnificent Siberian Baikal lake, and just enjoy the trip in the train.

The original Russian name for this railway is "The Great Siberian Way", the name "Trans-Siberian" was given to this route by the West, and became very wide-spread.
This railway is the backbone of Russia. It is the only overland route going through the whole country. This unique status makes the railway still quite important for the economy and safety of the country, as it was supposed to be more than 100 years ago, when it was built.

It takes more than six days to travel along the whole Trans-Siberian, so it is recommended to make stopovers along the way — like this your trip will be much more interesting also.

After crossing Siberia (soon after Irkutsk) the Trans-Siberian route divides into three different routes:

• The Trans-Siberian Route: Moscow - Vladivostok – the original Trans-Siberian railway, which goes all along Siberia and through the Far East (to the Pacific Ocean).
   
• The Trans-Mongolian Route: Moscow - Ulaanbaatar - Beijing. You will see Siberian plains and forests, Mongolian steppe and even a part of Gobi desert along this route that goes through Mongolia to China.
   
• The Trans-Manchurian Route: Moscow - Beijing – a direct way from Russia to China that goes around the Eastern border of Mongolia, not crossing it. It can be interesting for those, who are not interested in going to Mongolia, or who can't get tickets for other trains

TRANS SIBERIAN RAILROAD FACTS

Length	9288.2 km (5772 miles) by the main passenger way. It's largest railway in the world. Beginning at Yaroslavsky terminus, Moscow - Vladivostok terminus. On January 1, 2001 is electrified on the Transsib 9019 km, or 97,1% of whole length of the railway (there was only one non-electrified section Guberovo - Ruzhino - Sibirtsevo on the Far East Division in length 270 km).
Beginning of construction	31st May 1891 when Tsar Nicholas I laid the foundation stone near Vladivostok and the work began and continued for fourteen years until 1901, when the East Chinese section was completed linking Russia with China.
End of construction	18th October 1916, when the bridge across Amur river was finished near Khabarovsk. But it was only the end of the first section as others followed during the decades.
Main route	Moscow: Yaroslavskaya - Yaroslavl: Main - Danilov - Bui - Shar'ya - Kirov - Balezino - Perm'2 - Yekaterinenburg (Sverdlovsk) - Tyumen - Nazyvaevskaya - Omsk - Barabinsk - Novosibirsk: Main - Mariinsk - Achinsk1 - Krasnoyarsk - Ilanskaya - Taishet - Nishneudinsk - Zima - Irkutsk - Sludyanka1 - Ulan-Ude - Petrovskiy Zavod - Chita2 - Karymskaya - Chernyshevsk - Zabaikalskiy - Mogocha - Skovorodino - Belogorsk - Arkhara - Khabarovsk-1 - Vyazemskaya - Ruzhino -Ussuriysk - Vladivostok Travel along the Trans-Siberian Railway is usually undertaken from west to east, though it is quite possible to go in the opposite.
Territories	The Transsib crosses territory of 20 regions of the Russian Federation (14 - oblasts, 3 - krai, 2 - autonomy republics and 1 - autonomy oblast): Moskovskaya, Vladimirskaya, Yaroslavskaya, Kostromskaya, Kirovskaya oblasts, Udmurtskaya republic, Permskaya, Sverdlovskaya, Tumenskaya, Omskaya, Novosibirskaya, Kemerovskaya oblasts, Krasnoyarskiy krai, Irkutskaya oblast, Buryatskaya republic, Chitinskaya, Amurskaya oblasts, Jewish autonomy oblast, Khabarovskiy krai and Primorskiy krai.
Cities	89 cities are located on the Transsib: 5 cities with the population over 1,000,000 peoples (Moscow, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk), 9 cities with the population from 300,000 up 1,000,000 peoples (Yaroslavl, Kirov, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok) and 75 cities with the population less then 300,000 peoples.
Rivers	The Transsib crosses 16 large rivers: Volka, Vyatka, Kama , Tobol, Irtysh, Ob', Tom', Chulym, Yenisei, Oka, Selenga, Zeya, Bureya, Amur, Khor, Ussuri; and along the length of 220 km passes on the coast of Baikal lake and 39 km on the coast of Amursky Bay of Japanese Sea. Amur is the widest of them, nearly 2 km)
Other routes.	There is only one Transsiberian Railway but different routes are possible. The main route between Moscow and Vladivostok is usually taken by travelers. The Trans Mongolian Line was built from 1940 to 1956 between Ulan-Ude at Lake Baikal's eastern shore and the Chinese capital Beijing. From Ulan-Ude the tracks go south, towards Mongolia, crossing the large Gobi dessert and finally ending up in Beijing, China. This route has a length of 7867 km (Moscow - Beijing). One speciality you should see is the changing of the chassis at the Chinese border because of different width of the tracks in China and Russia. The Trans Manchurian Line which coincides with the Trans-Siberian as far as Tarskaya, a few hundred miles east of Baikal. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast into China near Zabaikalsk and makes its way down to Beijing. This route has a length of 9001 km (Moscow - Beijing). The Baikal Amur Magistrale (BAM) was started in the 1930s and officially opened 1984 after decades od sporadic work. It started in Taishet and reaches the Pacific ocean northeast of Khabarovsk, at Sovetskaya Galan. The 3.843 km long BAM runs several hundred km north of and parallel to the Transiberian Raiway. Even today, the BAM is not complete as one tunnel still has to be finished. This route is hardly found in any of the travel agency brochures outside the CIS. The reason for this is that there is actually no train doing the entire track. You have actually to hop different trains and sometimes even take the bus.
Enjoy journey	Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway has long been an almost mythic experience. It is the longest continuous rail line on earth, each run clattering along in an epic journey of almost six thousand miles (or more then nine thousand kilometers) over one third of the globe. For most of its history, the Trans-Siberian journey has been an experience of almost continuous movement, seven days or more of unabated train travel through the vast expanse of Russia. A great part of the pleasure of such a trip is simply sitting back and watching the land go by. However, most travelers on the Trans-Siberian find that interaction with other passengers, both Russians and tourists, is what makes the trip an unforgettable experience. Today, with far fewer travel restrictions, it is possible to use the rail journey as the core of a more varied tour. Travelers can enjoy stopovers in many of the Russian cities and towns along the route, from the historic Volga port of Yaroslavl to Irkutsk and the scenic Lake Baikal region. The Transsib pass through territory of two continents: Europe (0 - 1777 km) and Asia (1778 - 9289 km). On Europe contain 19,1% of lengths of the Transsib; on Asia, accordingly - 80,9%. Stome memorial "Border Europe - Asia" is placed on the 1777/1778 km near Pervouralsk city.

HISTORY OF THE TRANS SIBERIAN

Some people think that Transsib means the way that connects Ural with Far East and goes through Siberia (Trans-Siberian). But in reality it's different the contradiction comes from the name that English travelers gave to it - "Trans-Siberian Railway" instead of "Great Siberian Way" (this would be the literal translation from Russian) but then this name have rooted in Russian language.

And now the term Transsib means the way, that connects Center and Pacific Ocean, Moscow and Vladivostok and in broader meaning - ports of West with Russian capital and ways to Europe (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Brest, Kaliningrad) with ports of the East and ways to Asia. Transsib - is the road that gave an impulse to the settling and developing of eastern areas of Russia and involvement of them into economy of the other part of great country.

Nowadays Jaroslavskiy train station in Moscow is Transsib's starting point and a final point of the way is Vladivostok train station. But not always it was so. Before the middle of 20s the main gate to Siberia and Far East was Kazanskiy train station and at very beginning of Transsib (beginning of 20th century) Kursko-Nizhegorodskiy (nowadays Kurskiy) train station of Moscow. It's also important to mention that before the October revolution Moscow train station of Saint Petersburg, which was a capital of Russian Empire in that time was considered to be the starting of the Great Siberian Way. Also Vladivostok not always was considered to be the final point, for some time (from 90's of 19th century till the crucial land battles of Russian-Japanese war in 1904-1905), contemporaries considered naval fortress and town of Port Arthur, which is located on on the shore of East-Chinese Sea on the Lao Dun peninnsula, rented by Russian Empire from China to be the end of the Great Road.

Grand laying took place at 19th of May 1891 near Vladivostok and was attended by prince Nikolay Aleksandrovitch (Emperor Nikolay The Second in a future).

But actually construction started a little bit earlier in the beginning of March 1891 with building of the railway from Miass to Chelyabinsk.

The regular communications between the Empire's capital - Saint-Petersburg and Pacific ports - Vladivostok and Dalniy by the railroad was established in July 1903 when East Chinese railway that comes through Manchuria was pu to operation and began to function routinely. But still there was a break in a railway. Trains were transported through the Baikal Like by the special ferry boat.

The continued railway between Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok appeared after the finishing of Circum-Baikal railway construction (18th September of 1904). A year after it was put in regular operation as a part of The Great Siberian Way. And regular passenger trains for a first time in history have go an ability to follow rails from Atlantic (Western Europe) to Pacific ocean (Vladivostok) without using of any ferry crossings.

The final step in history of Transsib's construction was putting in the operation the bridge over Amur river near Khabarovsk and beginning of train communication over the Amur.

Trans-Sib-CHS2 (Skoda locomotive)

Ulan Bator Platform, Mongolia

4berth Train interior

Dining car of the train

Trans Sib at Mongolia Crossing Gobi Desert

Trans-Sib-Yaroslavski (Moscow Station)

Trans Siberian Route Description
stops along the way

There's something special about watching thousands of kilometers passing by, and observing ever-changing landscapes and views through the window of your train.

Despite all the books, games, and diaries you will have taken with you, most of the journey will be about getting back to the origins of life. You will eat and sleep all days through. You will feel the pleasure of pure biological life again. The philosophical question of what to eat first - either “pirozhki” (cakes) bought from an old lady at a station, or hard boiled eggs presented by your neighbor - will be the most important to solve for six days.

And this peculiar, magnificent, and expanding feeling of freedom when you are rushing to the platform to have a five-minute solid ground brake after the endless hours of life-on-board.

Your compartment may become your second house after two days spent in the train.

However, to really liven up your experience, travel company "Legend tour" recommend you to make a few stops along the Trans-Siberian.

Moscow	0 km	0h 0m The capital of Russia. A vibrant historical center.
Vladimir	209 km	2h 30m A small ancient city along the Golden Ring.
Nizhny    Novgorod	461 km	6h 30m A big vibrant industrial center of Volga region (Povolzhie).
	790 km	The end of Nizhegorodskaya region, start of Kirov region.
Kotelnich	830 km	11h 20m Here Trans-Siberian meets with the old track that was going through Yaroslavl.
	831 km	Crossing Vyatka river
Kirov	917 km	12h 50m A small industrial northern city. Center of Kirov region.
	1041 km	Crossing Kosa river
	1062 km	The end of Kirov region, start of Udmurtiya republic
Glazov	1125 km	15h 50m
Belezino	1154 km	16h 20m
	1185 km	Crossing Cheptsa river
	1230 km	The end of Udmurtiya republic, start of Perm region. Start of Urals region.
	1396 km	Crossing Kama river
Perm	1397 km	20h 10m A big industrial town in the beginning of Ural mountains. The main attractions are a few museums in the city, and old prehistorical caves.
	1570 km	The end of Perm region, start of Sverdlovsk region
	1730 km	Crossing Chusovaya river
Ekaterinburg	1778 km	1d 2h 20m Ekaterinburg was founded in 1797, and now it is the unofficial capital of Ural region — the most industrial (and polluted) region of Russia. However, Urals are most known as the mountains that divide Europe and Asia. Ekaterinburg itself is a nice and real (unvarnished) industrial city of modern Russia with many interesting buildings and sights.
		The end of Sverdlovsk region, start of Tyumen region (2070 km). The end of Ural, start of Western Siberia.
Tyumen	2104 km	1d 6h 30m The center of Tyumen region — the oil & gas center of Russia.
Ishim	2393 km	1d 10h 10m
	2395 km	Crossing Ishim river
	2485 km	The end of Tyumen region, start of Omsk region.
Nazyvaemskaya	2520 km	1d 12h 30m The closest place to Kazakhstan of the route: about 100 km.
	2674 km	Crossing Irtysh river
Omsk	2676 km	1d 13h 50m
	2800 km	The end of Omsk region, start of Novosibirsk region.
Barabinsk	3000 km	1d 17h 38m
	3168 km	Crossing Chulym river
	3300 km	Crossing Ob river
Novosibirsk	3303 km	1d 21h 30m The biggest city in Siberia region with 1442000 inhabitants, it was founded in 1893. Novosibirsk is the third main cultural and scientific center in Russia (after Moscow and St. Petersburg), the university of Novosibirsk is quite famous too. The city is developing quite rapidly, and is considered to be the capital of Siberia. The area around Novosibirsk is very good for camping and trekking. Besides, Novosibirsk is a great place to start discovering Altai mountains, which are not far.
	3440 km	The end of Novosibirsk region, start of Kemerovo region
Taiga	3532 km	2d 1h 0m
Mariinsk	3680 km	2d 3h 0m
	3745 km	The end of Kemerovo region, start of Krasnoyarsk region.
Bogotol	3813 km	2d 5h 20m
		Crossing Chulym river (on 3880 km)
Achinsk	3881 km	2d 6h 20m
Krasnoyarsk	4065 km	2d 9h 20m If you have a goal to stop at all the main Trans-Siberian stations, then you should stop in Krasnoyarsk, which is an important Siberian industrial center. But frankly, we personally find there's nothing interesting, except for Stolby National Park, which is outside of the city.
	4067 km	Crossing Enisey river
Ilanskaya	4344 km	2d 14h 0m There's a nice market at the station - eggs, potatoes, fish, sausages, tomatoes, ice cream, salted cucumbers, fresh stuff. Train stays 20 mins usually.
	4430 km	The end of Krasnoyarsk region, start of Irkutsk region.
Taishet	4483 km	2d 16h 30m Here you can change to BAM train line. Check beforehand if there's a train.
Nizhneudinsk	4647 km	2d 19h 20m Shops with beer, babushkas sell food in big bags - they walk with their bags and they open the bags to show you what is inside (there it looks like they're hiding). The air is warm and there are many mosquitoes.
	4650 km	Crossing Uda river
Zima	4902 km	2d 23h 10m A weird place with very hot climate in summer.
	4904 km	Crossing Oka river
Angarsk	5113 km	3d 2h 20m All the chemical and machinery productions are concentrated in this city. It was built by prisoners, so the landscapes are not very welcoming. Also, it is considered to be quite dangerous.
Irkutsk	5153 km	3d 3h 20m Irkutsk is a nice city with unusual atmosphere and interesting architecture. Baikal lake is just 60 kilometers away, and there are also Sayan mountain range quite close. Irkutsk is a good starting point for various outdoor activities and for exploring the western side of the lake Baikal.
Baikal Lake	from 5266 km	Here you start seeing Baikal lake A truly amazing and beautiful lake. There are a lot of places to enjoy pristine nature, and swim in the lake. It is worth making the Trans-Siberian just because of this lake only. Spend a few days there and you'll feel as if you were born again. You can either go there by yourself, or join in various outdoor activities offered by tour operators.
Slyudyanka	5279 km	3d 5h 50m A village on the shore of Baikal. It's more like a port, so it's not interesting to stay in there. It is a good starting point for exploration of Circum Baikal railway (which starts there), or going south to Arshan (3 hours), which is just next to Sayan mountains — a great place for camping, walks, and various activities. By the way, you can buy great smoked fish from Baikal lake - Omul - there. Highly recommended.
	5345 km	The end of Irkutsk region, start of Buryatia republic.
Ulan-Ude	5609 km	3d 12h 20m Overlooked by many travelers, this is a great place to stop for a few days (or even weeks - for Baikal). Ulan-Ude is the first place along the Trans-Siberian, where you feel like you're in Asia finally (after more than 2 days travel in the Asian part of Russia!). It has a feel of a calm, friendly Asian town (quite close to Mongolia, in fact), and there are a lot of interesting things to discover. Start with a local History Museum, visit a Buddhist Datsan, go to the open-air Ethnographic museum, and then go on to explore the Eastern shore of Baikal lake, which is much less tourist than the opposite Irkutsk side. In Ulan-Ude the Trans-Siberian splits into two directions: to the south through Gusinoye Ozero, Djida, Naushki (Russia) to Ulan-Bataar (Mongolia) to Beijing (China) - Trans-Mongolian, and to the east through Chita to Vladivostok (Trans-Siberian).
	5730 km	The end of Buryatia republic, start of Chita region
Mogzon	6022 km	3d 19h 0m
	6055 km	Crossing Khilok river.
Chita	6166 km	3d 21h 50m. The center of Chita region. A big industrial city. 100 km after Chita (in Karymskaya) the Trans-Siberian splits into two routes: to the east to Vladivostok, to the south through Manchuria to China (Trans-Manchurian). Below the Eastern route to Vladivostok is shown.
Karymskaya	6262 km	4d 10h 0m
Zabaikalsk	6555 km	4d 05h 40m
Mogocha	6876 km	4d 11h 40m
	7045 km	The end of Chita region, start of Amurskaya region.
	7079 km	Crossing Urka river
Skovorodino	7275 km	4d 19h 40m. A few kilometers before Skovorodino there's a train line to BAM (Tynda).
Belogorsk	7835 km	5d 04h 20m
	8150 km	The end of Amurskaya region, start of Evreiskaya region
Birobidzhan	8320 km	5d 13h 20m
	8481 km	The end of Evreiskaya region, start of Khabarovsky krai
	8482 km	Crossing Amur river via the longest Trans-Siberian bridge - 2612 meters. After - a long tunnel.
Khabarovsk	8493 km	5d 15h 40m. A city, which is located on Amur river, China is just on the other shore. A nice and friendly town, and an important break from the train journey as well.
Vyazemskaya	8621 km
	8750 km	The end of Khabarovsky krai, start of Primorsky krai
Guberovo	8809 km
Ruzhino	8902 km
Ussuriysk	9147 km	6d 2h 57m
Vladivostok	9259 km	6d 5h 19m. The last stop of Trans-Siberian. In the 1860, an army squad landed on the bank of Zolotoy Rog (Golden Horn) bay and built the barracks, it was the first building in the Vladivostok. Soon after that Vladivostok became the main Russian port on the Pacific ocean.

If you travel on Trans Siberian from the east to the west (Vladivostok -Moscow or Beijing - Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk - Moscow) you also can make stops on these cities. You also can look Moscow, Saint Petersburg and then to go home.

TransSib Valdivostok Station

Overview of the Trans-Siberian routes

Moscow - Vladivostok:  Every second day, the 'Rossiya' ('Russia', train number 2 eastbound, train 1 westbound) leaves Moscow on its 7-day journey to Vladivostok.  This is almost the longest train ride of them all, 9,258 km or 6,152 miles. This train has 1st class 2-berth compartments called spalny wagon or 'SV', 2nd class 4-berth compartments called kupé, open-plan bunks called 'platskartny' & a restaurant car.  One-way fares in the summer months cost around 18,629 rubles ($630 or £423) in kupé or 31,175 rubles ($1062 or £708) in spalny vagon, a bit more if booked through an agency. From Vladivostok there is a weekly ferry to Japan, taking 36 hours (2 nights).

Moscow - Beijing (China):  The main Trans-Siberian line runs from Moscow to Vladivostok, but most western travellers head for China on one of two branches, the Trans-Mongolian line (completed in the 1950s) or the Trans-Manchurian line (built around 1900).  There are two direct trains a week between Moscow & Beijing (Peking), train 3/4 via Mongolia using Chinese rolling stock and train 19/20 via Manchuria using Russian rolling stock.

Moscow - Beijing via Mongolia:  This is arguably the most interesting Trans-Siberian route to take.  The weekly Trans-Mongolian train (train 4 eastbound, train 3 westbound) leaves Moscow for Beijing every Tuesday night.  The 7,621 km (4,735 mile) journey takes 6 days.  This train crosses Siberia, cuts across Mongolia and the Gobi desert, then enters China.  This train uses Chinese rolling stock and has deluxe 2-berth compartments (with shared shower), 1st class 4-berth compartments & 2nd class 4-berth compartments.  Booked through a local Russian agency, journey costs around $805 or £555 one-way in 2nd class 4-berth or $1130 or £780 in 1st class 2-berth. 

If you want to stop off on the way, there are lots of Russian internal trains between Moscow, Yekaterinburg & Irkutsk including the 'Rossiya' & 'Baikal', then there's a daily train (number 362/363) between Irkutsk & Ulan Bator.  There's also a second weekly direct train between Moscow & Ulan Bator, train 6 eastbound, train 5 westbound. Then are at least 2 trains a week between Ulan Bator & Beijing. 

Moscow - Beijing via Manchuria: The weekly Trans-Manchurian train (the 'Vostok', train 20 eastbound, train 19 westbound, using Russian rolling stock) leaves Moscow on Friday nights for Beijing via Manchuria, taking just over six days to cover the 8,986km (5,623 miles).  There are 2-berth 1st class compartments (spalny vagon) and 4-berth 2nd class compartments (kupé).  Prices are similar to the Chinese train.

Other Trans-Siberian trains:  These aren't the only Trans-Siberian trains.  Far from it!  Many other trains run over parts of these routes, including the excellent 'Baikal' (train 9/10) every second day from Moscow* to Irkutsk, and some slower, lower quality trains.  There's even a daily Moscow-Vladivostok slow lower-quality train, train 904, not one you'd like to get on by mistake... * The Baikal is diverted to start in St Petersburg from June 2010.

Eastbound timetable...

Moscow ► Ulan Bator, Beijing & Vladivostok
Distance  (Km)	Hours ahead of Moscow	Train number & name:	2 'Rossiya'	4	6	20 'Vostok'	10 'Baikal'	340/350	362	24
		Days of running:	Every 2nd day	Tuesdays	Wednesdays	Fridays	Every 2nd day	Daily	Daily	1 or 2 per week
		Notes:	See note A	See note B	See note C	See note D	See note E	See note F	See note G	See note H
0	0	Moscow (Yaroslavski station)	21:25  day 1	21:35  day 1	21:35  day 1	23:55  day 1	-	13:35 day 1
-	0	St Petersburg (Ladozhki)	|	|	|	|	16:22  day 1	|
1,397	+2	Perm	17:45  day 2	17:55  day 2	17:55  day 2	20:37  day 2	22:34  day 2	15:24 day 2
1,778	+2	Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk)	23:29  day 2	23:39  day 2	23:39  day 2	02:24  day 3	04:30  day 3	21:14 day 2
2,676	+3	Omsk	11:28  day 3	11:51  day 3	11:51  day 3	15:26  day 3	17:30  day 3	12:16 day 3
3,303	+4	Novosibirsk	19:27  day 3	19:13  day 3	19:13  day 3	23:12  day 3	01:59  day 4	21:20 day 3
4,065	+4	Krasnoyarsk	07:40  day 4	07:06  day 4	07:06  day 4	11:02  day 4	13:48  day 4	10:35 day 4
5,152	+5	Irkutsk  arrive	01:14  day 5	23:55  day 4	23:55  day 4	04:02  day 5	07:39  day 5	04:38 day 5
5,152	+5	Irkutsk  depart	01:39  day 5	00:25  day 5	00:25  day 5	04:32  day 5		05:19 day 5	16:50  day 1
5,608	+5	Ulan Ude	08:54  day 5	08:30  day 5	08:30  day 5	11:35  day 5		12:29 day 5	01:55  day 2
6,265	+5/+4	Ulan Bator (local time) arrive	|	06:30  day 6	07:30  day 6	|			06:10  day 3
6,265	+5/+4	Ulan Bator (local time) depart	|	07:15  day 6		|				08:05  day 1
6,780	+5/+4	Erlian (Chinese frontier) arrive	|	21:00  day 6		|				22:00  day 1
7,574	+5/+4	Harbin (local time)	|	|		12:50  day 7				|
7,622*	+5/+4	Beijing (Peking) (local time)	|	14:04  day 7		05:31  day 8				14:33  day 2
8,492	+7	Khabarovsk	11:10  day 7
9,258	+7	Vladivostok	23:23  day 7

Westbound timetable...

Vladivostok, Beijing & Ulan Bator ► Moscow
Hours ahead of Moscow	Train number & name:	1 'Rossiya'	3	5	19 'Vostok'	9 'Baikal'	23	263	339/349
	Days of running:	Every 2nd day	Wednesday	Tuesday	Saturdays	Every 2nd day	1 or 2 per week	Daily	Daily
	Notes:	See note J	See note K	See note L	See note M	See note N	See note P	See note Q	See note R
+7	Vladivostok	14:52  day 1
+7	Khabarovsk	03:44  day 2
+5/+4	Beijing (Peking) (local time)	|	07:45  day 1		22:56  day 1		07:40  day 1
+5/+4	Harbin (local time)	|	|		15:10  day 2		|
+5/+4	Erlian  (frontier) arrive	|	20:37  day 1		|		20:39  day 1
+5/+4	Ulan Bator (local time) arrive	|	13:20  day 2		|		13:15  day 2
+5/+4	Ulan Bator (local time) depart	|	13:50  day 2	13:50  day 1	|			21:10  day 1
+5	Naushki (Russian frontier) arrive	|	19:14  day 2	19:14  day 1	|			xx:xx  day 2
+5	Ulan Ude	05:32  day 4	03:40  day 3	03:40  day 2	06:33  day 4			17:10  day 2	05:43  day 1
+5	Irkutsk  arrive	12:20  day 4	10:40  day 3	10:40  day 2	13:10  day 4			02:31  day 3	13:25  day 1
+5	Irkutsk  depart	12:50  day 4	11:05  day 3	11:05  day 2	13:40  day 4	14:20  day 1			14:05  day 1
+4	Krasnoyarsk	06:42  day 5	04:07  day 4	04:07  day 3	07:24  day 5	08:48  day 2			08:27  day 2
+4	Novosibirsk	19:54  day 5	16:17  day 4	16:17  day 3	19:37  day 5	21:09  day 2			21:40  day 2
+3	Omsk	03:33  day 6	23:56  day 4	23:56  day 4	03:14  day 6	06:36  day 3			06:02  day 3
+2	Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk)	15:58  day 6	12:08  day 5	12:08  day 4	15:38  day 6	21:05  day 3			20:57  day 3
+2	Perm	21:35  day 6	17:45  day 5	17:45  day 4	21:26  day 6	03:11  day 4			03:01  day 4
0	St Petersburg (Ladozhski)	|	|	|	|	10:00  day 5			|
0	Moscow (Yaroslavski station)	17:58  day 7	14:28  day 6	14:28  day 5	18:13  day 7	-			04:11  day 5

Passenger fares

Return tickets from Central Europe to Vladivostok and back can be as cheap as €250 with so called CityStar or Sparpreis Europa special offers. In addition, a reservation supplement for long-distance trains is mandatory, the prices range between €30 to €60 each way for trains in four-berth sleeper on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Overall, buying tickets for Russian trains in Germany, the Czech Republic or Poland can be cheaper than in Russia.

In addition to these services, a number of privately-chartered services are operated, and one tour operator even commissioned the construction of their own train, jointly owned by themselves and Russian railways. The train, officially named Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express was launched on 26 April 2007 by Prince Michael of Kent.

Fares are widely variable, but difficult to predict exactly. Fares for Russian trains are subject to seasonal changes, with mark-up for high season being up to 40%. The prices also change with the quality of the trains. Low numbered trains (001, 008, etc) are more expensive and more comfortable. High numbered trains (032, 133, etc) are less expensive and less comfortable. Rough ideas would be:

• Beijing - Moscow about $881 (soft sleeper)/$608 (hard sleeper)/$450 (2nd class) from China Travel Service (CITS) in Beijing
• Travelling the opposite direction, Moscow to Beijing can be considerably cheaper, depending on the season.
• St Petersburg - Kazan about $150 (2nd class, one way)
• Kazan - Ekaterinburg about $80 (2nd class, one way)
• Ekaterinburg - Novosibirsk about $125 (2nd class, one way)
• Novosibirsk - Irkutsk about $150 (2nd class, one way)
• Irkutsk - Vladivostok about $260 (2nd class, one way)

Reports show that the government has raised prices recently. Prices will be cheaper if you deal directly with them instead of resale agents, but that rules out English help and visa sponsorship, so be confident in your Russian if you deal directly with the government agency.

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