Double-decker trains in Russia: description, route, features and reviews. Double-decker trains

The last time I traveled by train was 2 years ago from Moscow to Donetsk, before that the last time I traveled was 5 years ago, and somehow I didn’t notice much difference with my childhood memories (as a child, every summer I rode to my grandmother and back, so my memories very clearly etched in my memory) - a cramped compartment, it blows from the window, it’s either cold or hot in the compartment, a dirty table, vintage mattresses, for which you first need to take linen from the conductor, and then hand it over (separate quest and entertainment). It’s scary to go out into the vestibule, not to mention walking between the cars, and why is it worth waiting in line for the toilet next to the trash can, which was invariably full at the end of the journey? And the dirty toilet that you couldn't use at bus stops?
But when I was offered to go to St. Petersburg and back by train, curiosity won over fear. It turned out to be very tempting to get from the center of Moscow straight to the center of St. Petersburg just by sleeping at night. It’s faster by plane, and sometimes it costs the same as by train, but here we must not forget that you need to get to and from the airport, arrive an hour before boarding ... in short, it’s not the most comfortable option for relatively close distances. There was also an extreme option to go by car, but I would have to drive it alone at night after working week 800 km, with no hope of sleeping off in the next couple of days. So the train seemed to be the most reasonable and convenient way, and it was interesting to remember the sensations from the sound of wheels and the landscapes rushing past the window.



The most unusual thing that appeared on the railway during the time until I used their services was double-decker cars. They were launched about a year ago. Now there are two trains - to Adler and to St. Petersburg, both from Moscow.
The double-deck car is designed to carry 64 people and was packed to capacity with cheerful Chinese tourist citizens. We enter the car - it is light and clean here, a smooth row of compartment doors. Remember, earlier on trains in compartment cars there were reclining chairs in the corridor? There are no such chairs. A staircase leads to the second floor and outwardly the corridor of the first floor does not differ from the corridor of the second.

The compartments themselves have also undergone significant changes, perhaps only the layout has remained as before, only now the shelves in the compartment are immediately filled with linen.
Do you remember how we left the compartment in turn allowing the neighbors to get a mattress? Cover everything, while trying to prevent the dust from flying in all directions and not to touch anyone with your hands? Now you can immediately go to bed without unnecessary body movements.
It also seemed to me that the shelves had become longer - in any case, this time my legs did not rest against the wall. visually, there is definitely no more space here than in a regular coupe. The air conditioner worked. There is another side to this in the windows - if the air conditioner breaks down, there is a chance to weld, the windows do not open. Two sockets “the joy of the iPhone”, right in the compartment. Lamps, a mirror, the table is covered with a clean tablecloth, there are hangers .It is claimed that a travel set of bathroom accessories is included in the price, but I was too lazy to go to the guide to get it.

The toilet is practically a masterpiece. And that's not sarcasm. Most importantly, they can be used at any time. It is clean, quite spacious (although there is no that romantic window on the right, the handle of which was so comfortable to hold on to), there are napkins and soap, an almost nanotechnological flush button. There are three such toilets in a double-decker car (there are more toilets per person compared to a reserved seat car, and fewer toilets per person compared to a compartment car). The vestibule next to the toilets expands a little, so several people are quite comfortable standing while waiting for their turn - it's funny that this was thought through. And on the scoreboard in the car, the "status of the toilet" is displayed, in the sense that it is occupied there or not. Very comfortably. True, it was possible to go further and make such an indicator right in the compartment, so that there was no need to get up from the shelf in vain.

Separate entertainment - the passage between the cars. No terrible harmonicas with a shaking floor and flickering sleepers and dirty vestibules. Now there are cheerful orange doors with silver corrugation, a hard floor, it's quiet and not scary at all. I remember that panicked childhood fear when I had to go between the cars - it was insanely scary to fail, and it was just dark and very, very noisy. Now, the doors between the cars open at the touch of a button with a quiet pneumatic sound, and close automatically, allowing you to move freely towards the intended goal (but smokers will suffer - there is absolutely nowhere to kill a cigarette here.)

I had a goal. I don’t remember that I have ever been in a restaurant car, so I decided to go out of ethnographic and research interest. The dining car also has two floors, the restaurant itself on the second, utility rooms and a bar on the first. They say that the food is delicious and not very expensive compared to Moscow prices, but it was late, I didn’t want to eat, but I wanted to sleep, so after taking a couple of shots I preferred to go to sleep.

Of the pleasant buns - there is WiFi in the double-decker train, however, there is a suspicion that it works simply through a modem from mobile operator: that is, when cellular Yes, there is the Internet. And when the train rushes in the wilderness, and the base stations are tens of kilometers away - it is not there.

On a two-story building (number 006) I was traveling from St. Petersburg to Moscow. In St. Petersburg, I ended up on another train, one-story (No. 004 "Express", as it is written on the ticket). Almost everything is the same there - clean, quiet, good toilet, but no wifi and one socket on the compartment. But I was amazed that passengers were offered a light dinner - in the compartment there were boxes of water, cookies and yogurt right on the table, and the conductor asked what we wanted for breakfast (there was a choice of three dishes - porridge, cheesecakes, pancakes) and brought it in the morning - it was shock! For the first time on the train they gave a normal hot meal (for free).

True, I had to pay 30 rubles for tea in a branded glass holder. Interestingly, by the way, is this a way for the conductors to earn a tip, or is breakfast and dinner really included in the ticket price on this train, and tea for a separate fee? In this case, "where is the check??"? But the price of tickets in this train is higher than in the "two-story".

By the way, now Russian Railways has a flexible pricing system on some trains, almost like on airplanes - the more demand (the fewer seats left on the train), the more expensive.

Here is an estimate of the price in a week (I suspect that this is not very far from the possible minimum):


A compartment in a double-decker carriage with departure "tomorrow" will cost more than 3,000 rubles (if the seats are sold out - and they are usually all sold out).

According to my impressions, Russian Railways has made a rather big step forward in terms of developing the quality of service and comfort, but it has not been without features either. I must say right away that I have no complaints at all about the carriage of the branded train - everything was very cool there (though without wifi). But there are a couple of comments on the double-decker car:
1. Stairs - for the elderly and those with heavy suitcases, it is better to immediately choose places on the ground floor
2. Claustrophobia - those who do not really like enclosed spaces and low ceilings should not take the upper places on the second floor. The ceiling there is slightly sloping towards the window, and hangs very low overhead.
3. Place for luggage. I fully admit that we were somehow unlucky and we had a special compartment (the last one to the stairs), but under the bottom bunk there was some kind of metal technical box that occupied almost the entire place. So we barely managed to fit my backpack (the size of a carry-on on an airplane) and Tanya's suitcase (not much bigger). What people will do with big bags, prams, skis, bicycles, I can’t even imagine, because there is no “third shelf” on which all this was stuffed in old cars. I really hope that somewhere there is a luggage compartment that can be used if necessary. If you have large luggage, it is better to take another train.
4. Poor guides. The car has become a double-decker, the number of passengers has doubled (compared to a conventional compartment car), and there are still two conductors. The conductor honestly told us that if we need something (tea or something else), then it’s better to go to him right away, and not wait until he brings it, because he will serve fifty Chinese for several hours.

The first double-deck car was made by the masters of the Tver Carriage Works in 1905. And 108 years later, in November 2013, a double-decker car from the same plant set off on a journey across Russia. On what routes do double-decker trains now travel in Russia, what is special about them and what services can be obtained in carriages that are still unusual for us?

Double-decker trains in Russia: where and when did they appear?

The idea of ​​a double-decker train dominated the minds of engineers back in the century before last. The result of the development was a double-decker car produced at the Tver Carriage Works in 1905. It was intended for long-distance transportation, and the first floor was reserved for animals and livestock.

In the USSR, several attempts were made to launch double-decker trains. At first they tried to buy cars made in the GDR. They ran on some suburban routes. Then there were attempts to create their own versions. The Yegorov Leningrad plant produced a prototype, in which the first floor was for sleeping, and the second floor was for sitting. Things did not go further than suburban and demonstration launches.

Since 2007, Russian Railways has been working on a project for double-decker trains. We were looking for technologies, forming an order. The same Tver Carriage Works undertook to manufacture double-decker cars; in 2013, the first double-decker car was handed over to the customer. And in the same year, the two-story train moved along the route Moscow - Adler.

Now trains with double-deck cars run on 10 routes. Basically, branded fast trains are double-decker.

• No. 642/641, Rostov-on-Don - Adler;
• No. 003/004, Kislovodsk - Moscow;
• No. 23/24, Moscow - Kazan;
• No. 5/6, Moscow - St. Petersburg;
• No. 7/8, Moscow - St. Petersburg;
• No. 103/104 Moscow - Adler;
• No. 738/737 Moscow - Voronezh;
• No. 49/50 Moscow - Samara;
• No. 35/36 St. Petersburg - Adler;
• No. 740Zh / 739Zh Moscow - Voronezh.

According to the program for the modernization of the Russian Railways rolling stock, the number of double-decker trains on the routes is planned to be gradually increased.

Features of double-decker trains

In contrast to the experiments of the last century, full-fledged sleeping compartments in modern cars are located on both floors. Passengers get to the second one by ordinary stairs. They are not too wide, but it is easy to carry a “picture, basket, cardboard” over them.

Many pessimists expected that the compartments on the second floor would have low ceilings, their fears were not justified. The ceiling height is standard and comfortable for passengers on both floors.

Between the cars there are comfortable transitions - "accordions". The doors between them open automatically when a button is pressed. The rattling joints between the cars with the plates moving apart underfoot are a thing of the past.

Passengers note the comfort, safety and good equipment of double-decker carriages. Compartments are locked with an individual magnetic key, which is given to the passenger at the time of boarding. The car has double-glazed windows, energy-saving lamps. Installed air conditioning and heating systems. The surveillance, control and monitoring system transmits data in the conductor's compartment. Passengers can be calm for their safety. Also in the compartment there are two sockets for connecting razors and mobile devices.

Comfort is in the details. Remember the radio in the old cars, which only the conductor could turn off? In the compartment of a double-decker train, you decide when to listen to music and when not.

Advantages of double-deck cars

What other advantages can be noted in double-decker cars, in addition to modern design coupe and good level comfort?

• The number of passengers carried is higher than usual. In the new trains, there are 64 beds in the car, in the usual 36 people are placed in the compartment car.
• The fare in a double-decker train is lower than in a regular compartment because there are more passengers. Compared to fast branded cars of the same class, tickets are 20-25% cheaper.
• Environmental friendliness. The cars are equipped with energy-saving lamps and heating systems, dry closets, special containers for separate waste collection.

When buying tickets for a branded double-decker train, there is a dynamic pricing program. The earlier you buy tickets, the cheaper they are. As the date of the trip approaches, the price may increase depending on the demand and workload of the railway direction.

When ordering tickets for a double-decker train, please note that there is a separate layout for each floor.

Services on double-decker trains

For the price of the ticket you will be provided with:

• bed sheets;
• the top seat in the compartment and all seats in the NE will already be covered;
• drinking water;
• food (once);
• sanitary and hygienic accessories;
• WiFi;
• in luxury cars - plasma screens for watching movies or news channels.

There is a dining car in branded double-decker trains. On the ground floor there is a bar and a kitchen, on the second floor there is a restaurant hall.

The carriages have compartments equipped with a lift and wide shelves for passengers with limited mobility.

The good news for lovers of homemade food and parents of small children is that microwave ovens are installed in passenger cars. You can make a hot sandwich or warm up food taken from home.

Double-decker trains now link the south and center of Russia. There are routes from Moscow to Kazan, Samara, Voronezh. It is planned that in the future, on most long-distance routes, double-decker cars will completely replace second-class cars.

But RZD is silent about something. New cars are fraught with many problems. Read more under the cut.

1. Service.

There are 36 seats in an ordinary compartment car. The new two-story building has 64 seats.

You will have to wait longer for service because there are no more guides. There are still two of them. And there are 28 more passengers in a double-decker carriage. Even more than in a reserved seat car, where there are 54 passengers. So tea will be brought more slowly than in the reserved seat. Also, you will have to wait longer to board the car. And you pay as you would for an ordinary one-story compartment car.

We are told that there will be more tickets than on regular trains, but this is also not entirely true. No one will drive extra cars, just if there are fewer passengers for some direction, then the number of cars will be reduced proportionally.

2. Stairs

Elderly and disabled people will be especially grateful to Russian Railways for the need to carry suitcases to the second floor. Even from the first floor there will be a small staircase to get to the exit. Only one carriage in the entire train will be single-storey. And of course the places in it will be sold out in the first place.

Speaking of suitcases and bags. There is no longer a luggage rack above the entrance to the compartment. Not on the first or second floor. Where to put large luggage for 4 passengers is not clear. Also on this shelf, the conductors usually placed blankets and pillows so as not to occupy the lower shelves. Now they will interfere.

4. Ventilation

I often travel in compartment cars of branded trains. They are all brand new, but the continuous ventilation only works on one out of five rides. Typically, ventilation is turned on in the evening and turned off at night. I'm not talking about air conditioning, but about a banal influx fresh air. The compartment has long been sealed with non-opening windows, and when 4 passengers are traveling, and the ventilation does not work for several hours in a row, there is simply nothing to breathe. I can’t even imagine how asthmatics and heart patients endure such torture. This is a gross violation sanitary norms has been out of the hands of Russian Railways for many years.

In double-decker wagons it will be even harder, because. the volume of the coupe has become significantly smaller, due to the reduced ceiling level and the lack of space where the luggage rack was.

You might think that the newest carriages will have ventilation. I doubt it very much, because even on the branded train 01/02 Moscow-Vladivostok, which uses the latest cars with double toilets at one end of the car, ventilation is not turned on at all for the entire trip! I argued with the conductors many times - they refer to various technical problems. Thus, the risk of literally suffocating when ventilation is turned off increases even more in a double-decker car.

Many people are surprised at how weak they are after a trip on a night train - if there was no headache all night, if there was no ventilation and the air did not meet any sanitary standards!

5. Toilets

Look here. In an ordinary compartment car there are 36 seats and 2 toilets. It turns out 1 toilet for 18 passengers. There are 64 seats and 3 toilets in a double-decker carriage - 1 toilet for 21 passengers. Toilets will be 15% busier. Not the biggest problem, but in this respect it will become a little worse.

6. Tambour and smokers

The vestibule on the opposite side of the conductor's compartment was removed altogether. And there is nowhere else to smoke. In theory, this is great. Yes and new law Russia bans smoking on trains. I don't smoke myself and I can't stand the tobacco smoke that enters the corridor from the vestibule in ordinary carriages.

But the reality in Russia is that many selfish smokers will still want to smoke and will do it in the toilets. And everyone will be forced to poison themselves with tobacco smoke when visiting the toilets. And in the vestibule where the entrance to the car, the conductors do not allow smoking - they often go there themselves and carry out any maintenance of the car systems.

7. Risk of injury

More about stairs. Unlike Europe, our railway tracks are not so ideally laid and the cars are not so well thought out in terms of suspension comfort and the cars shake quite a lot while driving. The risk of injury when descending the stairs when you are going to the toilet is very high. Or if you need to bring hot tea or boiling water. Yes, and swing the second floor will be stronger.

Results

Do you think tickets will be cheaper? Nothing like this will most likely happen. Double-deck cars are beneficial only for Russian Railways - they will save money at the expense of your comfort and safety.

Yes, there are also double-decker trains in Europe, but mostly we are talking about ordinary trains with seats, they always have ventilation, and such cars are more often put on regional cheap trains, such as RE in Germany. But there are many ordinary single-decker trains, which are the vast majority. In the conditions of Russia, when Russian Railways is clearly going to replace all ordinary single-decker cars with double-decker ones, traveling in such trains will have no alternative and will actually be equated with torture.

All of the above is my personal opinion.

: https://www.yaplakal.com/forum2/topic633791.html

The first double-decker train appeared in Russia. The double-decker train has already set off on the Moscow-Adler route on November 1.

The passengers of the first flight were journalists and volunteers of the Sochi 2014 Olympics. The time spent by the passengers of the new train on the road will be 25 hours 19 minutes - an hour and a little less than on a conventional train. In the near future, the train will cover the same route in just 22 hours.

Among the advantages of the new train, Russian Railways notes the smooth ride, free Wi-Fi, 3 toilets instead of two in the car, as well as a small savings on tickets. The top shelf in a compartment of a double-decker train will cost 3,206 rubles against 4,530 in a regular train, writes pro-goroda.ru

At first glance, it seems that a double-decker train has only pluses. But observant Internet users have already discussed the innovation from all sides and found a number of disadvantages, which were kept silent by representatives of Russian Railways. A user with the nickname Alexid1 on the yaplakal.com forum clearly described the shortcomings of a double-decker train.

The first disadvantage. Service There are 36 seats in an ordinary compartment car. The new two-story building has 64 seats. You will have to wait longer for service because there are no more guides. There are still two of them. And there are 28 more passengers in a double-decker carriage. Even more than in a reserved seat car, where there are 54 passengers. So tea will be brought more slowly than in the reserved seat. Also, you will have to wait longer to board the car. And you pay as you would for an ordinary one-story compartment car. We are told that there will be more tickets than on regular trains, but this is also not entirely true. No one will drive extra cars, just if there are fewer passengers for some direction, then the number of cars will be reduced proportionally.

Second disadvantage. stairs Elderly and disabled people will be especially grateful to Russian Railways for the need to carry suitcases to the second floor. Even from the first floor there will be a small staircase to get to the exit. Only one carriage in the entire train will be single-storey. And of course the places in it will be sold out in the first place.

The third disadvantage. Baggage Speaking of suitcases and bags. There is no longer a luggage rack above the entrance to the compartment. Not on the first or second floor. Where to put large luggage for 4 passengers is not clear. Also on this shelf, the conductors usually placed blankets and pillows so as not to occupy the lower shelves. Now they will interfere.

The fourth disadvantage. Ventilation I often travel in compartment cars of branded trains. They are all brand new, but the continuous ventilation only works on one out of five rides. Typically, ventilation is turned on in the evening and turned off at night. I'm not talking about air conditioning, but about the banal influx of fresh air. The compartment has long been sealed with non-opening windows, and when 4 passengers are traveling, and the ventilation does not work for several hours in a row, there is simply nothing to breathe. I can’t even imagine how asthmatics and heart patients endure such torture. This gross violation of sanitary standards has been getting away with Russian Railways for many years. In double-decker wagons it will be even harder, because. the volume of the coupe has become significantly smaller, due to the reduced ceiling level and the lack of space where the luggage rack was. You might think that the newest carriages will have ventilation. I doubt it very much, because even on the branded train 01/02 Moscow-Vladivostok, which uses the latest cars with double toilets at one end of the car, ventilation is not turned on at all for the entire trip! Many times I quarreled with the conductors - they refer to various technical problems. Thus, the risk of literally suffocating with the ventilation turned off increases even more in a double-decker car. Many people are surprised at how tired they are after a trip on a night train - they wouldn’t have a headache if there was no ventilation all night, and the air did not meet any sanitary standards!

Fifth disadvantage. toilets Look here. In an ordinary compartment car there are 36 seats and 2 toilets. It turns out 1 toilet for 18 passengers. There are 64 seats and 3 toilets in a double-decker carriage - 1 toilet for 21 passengers. Toilets will be 15% busier. Not the biggest problem, but in this respect it will become a little worse.

Sixth disadvantage. Tambour and smokers The vestibule on the opposite side of the conductor's compartment was removed altogether. And there is nowhere else to smoke. In theory, this is great. Yes, and the new law of the Russian Federation prohibits smoking on trains. I don't smoke myself and I can't stand the tobacco smoke that enters the corridor from the vestibule in ordinary carriages. But the reality in Russia is that many selfish smokers will still want to smoke and will do it in the toilets. And everyone will be forced to poison themselves with tobacco smoke when visiting the toilets. And in the vestibule where the entrance to the car, the conductors do not allow smoking - they often go there themselves and carry out any maintenance of the car systems.

The disadvantage of the seventh. Injury risk More about stairs. Unlike Europe, our railway tracks are not so ideally laid and the cars are not so well thought out in terms of suspension comfort and the cars shake quite a lot while driving. The risk of injury when descending the stairs when you are going to the toilet is very high. Or if you need to bring hot tea or boiling water. Yes, and swing the second floor will be stronger.

Comfortable double-decker trains began to run on railways Russia not so long ago. The train "Moscow - Adler" 103/104 was the first to be launched. At the moment, a ticket for the same train number 5/6 can be purchased by residents of the capital who want to get to St. Petersburg. There is another such train - from Moscow to Kazan (23/24).

How convenient are these trains?

The advantages of two-story compositions include primarily:

• possibility of transportation immediately a large number passengers;
• the possibility of selling tickets at a not too high cost;
• environmental friendliness of operation.

The double-decker carriages of the Russian Railways (see photo below) look rather unusual. Their height is 5 meters 25 cm. They were designed and built by domestic engineers. Tickets for travel in such trains cost about 22% less than in conventional trains. Russian Railways managed to reduce the price for them precisely due to the fact that it became possible to carry a much larger number of passengers in one flight. However, judging by the feedback, traveling in a double-decker train is not as convenient as in a regular train.

Key Features

In addition to ordinary passenger trains, a dining car is also included in the double-decker trains. The dining room itself is located on the second floor. On the first floor there is a kitchen and a washing room. Ready meals are served upstairs by a special elevator. The same device is used to lower dirty dishes down. The restaurant hall is designed for 48 people. The bar can accommodate six people at the same time.

All double-decker train cars are assembled using special energy-saving technologies. They weigh only 64-66 tons. For comparison: the weight of a one-story building is 58 tons. At the same time, the capacity of the car of the new train is almost twice as large. The centralized energy saving system in such cars allows reducing energy costs by 35-40%.

In addition to the restaurant, this train includes a staff car. It is designed for only 50 passengers. At the same time, it has places for the disabled and their accompanying persons. Tickets for this carriage cost the same as for the others. However, beneficiaries have the opportunity to ride it for free.

A two-story train is capable of developing greater speed than a single-story train. You can get to your destination by 2-3 hours faster. A double-decker train is moving at a speed of approximately 160 km/h.

Cars in double-deck trains

Riding in such a train is not as convenient as in a regular one, but still it is quite comfortable. There is a special lift at the entrance to the double-decker cars. Disabled people have the opportunity to get inside the train without getting up from the wheelchair.

All double-decker carriages are equipped with air conditioning systems. The aisles inside the train are exactly the same width as in conventional trains. The stairs to the second floor are not too steep and are equipped with railings. A special mirror is installed on the intermediate platform. It is necessary so that ascending passengers see those descending, and traffic jams do not form on the stairs.

Each double-decker car (photo of the corridor can be seen above) is equipped with a temperature display. The conductor has the ability to monitor the order through a video surveillance system. It is much more convenient to move from car to car in a double-decker train than in a regular train. Nothing here rumbles or staggers (everything is absolutely sealed). Each double-decker carriage has three dry closets. Titanium s hot water is located not in the corridor, as in ordinary trains, but in the conductor's working room.

coupe

There are no reserved seats in double-decker carriages. Coupes are almost identical to ordinary ones. The difference is that they are equipped with 220 volt outlets. In addition, free Wi-Fi is available on the trains. Passengers have the opportunity, for example, to take a laptop with them and access the Internet. In this, the double-decker Russian Railways cars (the photo below shows the situation in the compartment) in terms of convenience, ordinary reserved seats, of course, are superior.

Some discomfort in the compartment of such trains is experienced mainly by those who bought a ticket to the top shelf. In this regard, a double-decker car (the photo inside it clearly demonstrates this) actually differs from the usual one not in better side. The fact is that the distance between the surface of the shelf and the ceiling is very small. Despite the absence of an upper luggage compartment, the passenger will not be able to sit down with his legs dangling.

In general, the double-deck cars of the new Russian Railways trains are quite well equipped. But, of course, the budget composition cannot be too convenient. However, you can still get to your destination by such a train with relative comfort. Yes, and you will have to pay a little less for the fare than for a trip in a regular carriage.