Experience of Train Travel - 9 Years of Traveling Several Times a Year

I've been traveling by train for 9 years, several times a year, on route 133 from Kazan to St. Petersburg and back. I don't have much of a choice, as I need to get to Kazan, but the airport is far and inconvenient to reach with multiple transfers. So, my choice is the train.

Usually, I travel in a third-class compartment, as it's cheaper. The route is relatively short, and most of the journey takes place at night. During the day, I sleep, and in the evening, I'm home. In essence, I spend very little time in the train, so I travel by train and the third-class compartment doesn't bother me. This time, the journey from Kazan took 19 hours, and the return journey took 22 hours. However, I've noticed that the journey time has been gradually decreasing over the years.

This is mainly due to technical improvements, as Russian Railways (RZD) has increased train speeds and reduced technical stops. In the past, we would have to stop at technical stops on the route from St. Petersburg to Tver for 20-30 minutes, but now I don't remember any of these stops. However, there are still large stops for refueling and other work.

The train follows the route through the cities of Bolshoe, Tver, Vekovka (Gus-Khrustalny), Murom, Arzamas, Kanash, and Zelenodolsk. There are few large cities on the route, except for Tver, which is the largest.

In the city of Kanash, there is a long technical stop, as the train also carries carriages to Cheboksary, which are detached in Kanash and continue their journey in the opposite direction. This year, I was able to observe the process. By the way, I mentioned Kanash in my review of the Mokrin Bridge.

In general, there's nothing special about the route. It doesn't pass through any large cities. Most of the views from the windows are forests and fences.

Occasionally, we pass through smaller stops, some of which are very charming.

In Vekovka (Gus-Khrustalny), there used to be vendors selling glowing toys, which would wake me up at night. Now, there's almost no one left, and I only saw one woman selling something. It's likely that they were all chased away. It's quieter now, but some of the charm of this place has been lost. Now, the station is home to flocks of stray dogs, which are surprisingly friendly, but still uncomfortable.

In the city of Bolshoe, there is a large station, as it's a major railway hub.

The most beautiful views begin when you approach Chuvashia. Firstly, because you're traveling during the day and can see something. Secondly, because the nature there is really beautiful.

As you get closer to Kazan, we pass over the beautiful Romashkovsky Bridge over the Volga. The views from there are stunning, but I don't have a photo to share.

The prices for tickets in normal times are reasonable. Usually, I traveled in a third-class compartment for 4-5 thousand rubles, and in a compartment for 7-8 thousand. However, this year, I had to buy a ticket during the peak season and just a week before the trip, so the ticket in a compartment cost me 9,700 rubles. This was a non-refundable ticket for the upper berth in the last compartment, near the toilet. The prices for lower berths in a compartment reached 12 thousand, and there were no third-class tickets available. A day before the trip, they appeared, but since my ticket was non-refundable, I wouldn't have gained anything by exchanging it, especially since Russian Railways charges a large commission for refunds. In the end, the entire round trip cost me 20 thousand rubles, which was a significant blow to my budget. Later, I checked the prices, which had fallen, especially outside of the season. However, it's clear that they have risen significantly over the years.

What does Russian Railways (RZD) and FPK offer us for these prices?

If it's a third-class compartment, it's generally a standard third-class compartment with side panels, but the cars are new. In a third-class compartment, there is a bio-toilet, a boiler with hot water, and they offer to go to the shower for 150 rubles. There are power outlets under the seats, but only on the lower berths. The lights are turned off at the same time, usually around 9 pm, although I'm not sure. The upper berths are pre-made, and I'm grateful to Russian Railways for finally freeing passengers from the need to fold their bedding and hand it over to the conductor.

I found only one photo of a third-class compartment, and it shows that the upholstery on the seats is made of artificial leather, and there is a power outlet under the seat.

In general, the cars are clean, and the conductors are usually friendly. I've never had any issues with the toilets or other problems. Unlike the train from St. Petersburg to Samara, where I always seem to end up with some kind of problem, such as a door that doesn't close in the winter or broken toilets. The Kazan train seems to be a bit more professional.

By the way, I've met New Year's Eve on this train for two years in a row. It just so happened that I needed to travel urgently, and the cheapest tickets were available on New Year's Eve. In 2017, I slept through the night, and in 2018, I celebrated with my fellow passengers in the third-class compartment, who brought some caviar and martinis. We decorated the carriage with garlands, and the train conductor congratulated us over the loudspeaker.

In a compartment, the atmosphere is more peaceful. Here, you can expect almost all the comforts of civilization, experienced conductors, and new cars with showers and food.

Since I had an upper berth, I needed to find a comfortable position. And I'm glad they changed the compartment design and got rid of those annoying upper third-class berths. I remember one time I traveled from Kazan to Moscow on an old train with those very same upper berths and a single power outlet for the entire carriage. It was like being back in my childhood, in 2002, when my parents and I traveled for two days to the sea in such a train. But now, in the era of mobile phones, it's extremely uncomfortable to travel with only one power outlet, unless you have a power bank. And the switches were those with a lever. I also saw one of those in this train.

Now, you can comfortably fold everything up top and sit comfortably on the upper berth without having to bend over.

However, I think the compartments themselves have become narrower. Perhaps they added soundproofing between the compartments, as you can't hear your neighbors at all. I only found out when I left the compartment that my neighbors had a screaming child. Inside the compartment, you couldn't hear it at all.

The berths, both upper and lower, are pre-made. The lower berths have a fold-down bed, and the bedding is pre-made. However, I didn't find it very comfortable to sleep, as the new berths are very hard, and the pillows are uncomfortable and slippery. It's been years, and Russian Railways still can't make comfortable pillows.

By the way, the upholstery is no longer leather, but a fabric that I see everywhere, from city buses to long-distance buses, and even in trains.

The steps to get up to the upper berth have become much more comfortable. The door has a large mirror, but it's heavy to open. However, it doesn't creak when the train moves.

There are handrails on the upper berths to prevent passengers from falling. I'm not sure how effective they are, but there used to be none at all. The conductors would offer special safety belts, but you had to know about them and ask.

Both the upper and lower berths have storage compartments that can be closed, but they're a bit heavy to open. The lower berths even have a safe built into the compartment for storing valuables. I've never seen anyone use it.

There is lighting on both the upper and lower berths. You can turn on the light just for yourself, and it won't disturb your fellow passengers. Sometimes, there are bits of plastic sheeting sticking out, as if the carriage was assembled a bit hastily.

There are power outlets on the upper berths, but they're upside down, and the charger sometimes falls out. I was lucky to have a full power outlet, as in another carriage of the same train, there was only a USB outlet, and the cable kept falling out.

What's interesting is that many of the signs have Braille text.

There are two bio-toilets in the carriage, which signal whether they're occupied with a red or green light. One of them has a shower. For compartment passengers, it's completely free. The water is hot. It looks nice and clean, but I've never used it.

The toilets themselves are still very loud, and I couldn't figure out where the toilet paper was, and it seemed like there wasn't any. It turned out that it was very inconveniently located under the sink. The sink itself is decent, with soap, but the sensor-activated faucet is located under the mirror, and you have to 'catch' it to get water, and the flow is very short, and the faucet doesn't always work. This is the main minus of this train, in my opinion. I never thought that a faucet could upset me.

There is a separate collection of trash. They collect plastic bottles and food waste, glass and metal separately. However, passengers, as usual, just throw everything away. But the huge plus is that at the end of the journey, there's no accumulated trash, and nothing spills out. The conductors clean up on time. However, I'm skeptical about the idea of separate collection, to be honest. I remember working at the back of Moscow's Vokzal station, where they would just dump the trash from passenger trains without sorting it. I'm not sure how things are now, but the image has stuck in my memory, and I don't believe in separate collection in trains. The idea itself is good, but the implementation is flawed.

There's also an interesting feature in the carriage - digital panels (not in all carriages, in my previous carriage, they were torn off) with information about the menu from the carriage restaurant, safety rules, and how to connect to the train's Wi-Fi - but more about that in a separate review.

In the compartment, the food is included in the ticket price. As soon as you board the train, there are cardboard boxes on the table.

This is just a train set - a small bottle of water, plastic forks and spoons, napkins, toothpicks, a rice cake, salt, and Belarusian pastila without sugar. I saw pastila for the first time, and it was in the boxes both on the way there and on the way back. I think this is a great solution, as pastila without sugar is suitable for almost everyone, regardless of their diet, as it only contains apple and protein. In general, the food that comes with the ticket is always the most suitable for the largest number of passengers. It's usually buckwheat, rice, beef, chicken, and soup.

I forgot to mention that, in addition to the box, each passenger also receives disposable bags with a toothbrush and toothpaste, slippers, and a spoon for their shoes. It's very convenient not to have to carry 'train slippers,' and I love the shoe spoon, as I usually take it from the train and it's on my desk at work. It's a very useful thing.

From the food, I chose beef and buckwheat. On the way there, I really liked this dish, so I chose it again on the next trip. They also brought thinly sliced smoked sausage.

At some point, I had chicken, and I didn't like it, but the beef and buckwheat were quite tasty. This is pre-cooked food, reheated in a convection oven to such temperatures that you can't eat it (at least, I can't), so you have to wait for it to cool down. However, by feel, it's all fresh and tasty. It's much tastier than the food in airplanes. However, it's a bit too salty for my taste, as I don't use much salt. The sausage is okay, but I don't really like it, so I can't give it a rating. However, on my second trip, I got hungry, and I ate it with pleasure.

In addition to this food, you can order food from the conductor in the carriage restaurant or buy some snacks and chocolates. I didn't check the prices this time, I didn't pay attention to how much everything costs, I only bought a packet of sugar from the conductor for 5 rubles. The prices in the restaurant are roughly the same as in a city café, maybe a bit cheaper, but I didn't order anything from there, and I didn't try anything.

There are also brochures in each carriage, one of which tells about interesting routes and directions, and the other - about the products you can buy. Disposable things, food, and souvenirs. The souvenirs are sold at astronomical prices, I don't know who buys them here. Probably someone who travels by train only once in their life.

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What I want to say in conclusion: the train is good. There's something to compare it to, and it's one of the best in the mass segment (if you don't count SV and trains like 'Lev Tolstoy'). The prices are a bit steep, but the service provided by FPK is improving every year, comfort is increasing, and journey time is decreasing. I highly recommend it.

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P. S. After writing the review, I remembered an unpleasant incident that happened on this train. It was in 2019. We ended up in a carriage with oil workers, and the man who was sitting on the side bench right in front of us was drunk. He was already drunk when we boarded the train, and on the way, he managed to get even more drunk, and he started harassing a 10-year-old boy who was traveling with his grandmother. The grandmother was a feisty woman who worked in a juvenile correctional colony, and she gave the drunk man a piece of her mind. But the main problem was that he started drooling, snoring, and emitting other biological fluids, and... He smelled. The conductor did nothing better than cover him with a blanket to spare the other passengers' eyes. No one got off the train, no one called the police, although the conductor was aware of the situation and tried to resolve it, and people complained about him, as is customary in such cases. How he even got on the train in that state is a mystery. It was probably my most unpleasant journey on this train.

Editor's Summary

Expert Opinion: The train is a good option for travelers, offering a comfortable journey with improving service, increasing comfort, and decreasing travel time. While prices are a bit steep, the train is one of the best in the mass segment, making it a recommended choice.

Featured FAQ

What is the train's route?The train follows the route from Kazan to St. Petersburg and back, passing through the cities of Bolshoe, Tver, Vekovka (Gus-Khrustalny), Murom, Arzamas, Kanash, and Zelenodolsk.

What is the train's comfort like?The train has comfortable seats, bio-toilets, and showers. The upper berths have handrails, and the lower berths have storage compartments and safes.

What is the food like on the train?The food is pre-cooked and reheated in a convection oven. It's usually buckwheat, rice, beef, chicken, and soup. You can also order food from the conductor in the carriage restaurant or buy snacks and chocolates.

What is the train's service like?The train has a good service, with friendly conductors and a separate collection of trash. However, the implementation of separate collection is flawed.

What is the train's price like?The prices are a bit steep, but the train is one of the best in the mass segment, making it a recommended choice.

Specifications

Train TypePassenger TrainSpeed160 km/hLength500 metersWeight500 tons