European Railroad Discussion > Helsinki to Vladivostok-Part 7

As mentioned previously, May 9 "Victory Day" is a very busy day. As a result, Russian Railways were running their high-speed SAPSAN trains in special sections and doubling up the capacity of the regular runs by coupling two trains together. It was quite impressive to see the marshalling of the large crowds out to the trains.
We were well-treated on the train with good food and a commercial movie about the building of the trains.
The line between St. Petersburg to Moscow was decreed by a Czar to be a straight line - perfect for high speed rail. In spite of the large crowds, the train operated on time.
Picture 1 - Moskovsky station crowds - note how well-dressed the travellers. In 1968 when I visited Leningrad, I felt that most Russians were lucky to have one pair of shoes.
Picture 2 - Passengers for our coach waiting to be processed by the attendant.
Picture 3 - the streamlined front of the SAPSAN train set.
=====================================Notes on SAPSAN===============================================================
Construction history:
On 18 May 2006, Siemens and Russian Railways signed a €276 million order for eight high-speed trains[3] with a 30-year service contract worth around €300 million.[3]

Some other info on SAPSAN from Wikipedia:
The trains were ordered to connect Moscow with Saint Petersburg and later Nizhny Novgorod at a speed of up to 250 km/h (155 mph). They are derived from the German ICE 3 train but with bodies widened by 330 mm (13 in) to 3,265 mm (10 ft 8.5 in) to suit Russia's wide loading gauge.[4] Four of the trains (EVS2) are equipped for both 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz AC operation. The total length of each ten-car train is 250 m (820 ft), carrying up to 600 passengers.

Development and construction was carried out by Siemens at Erlangen and Krefeld in Germany. In August 2009, it was announced that the fifth Sapsan had been delivered to Russia, of the eight that were planned.[5]

Four single-voltage ("EVS1", 3 kV DC powered, trainsets 5-8) trains entered passenger service at the end of 2009 on the Moscow – St Petersburg route, with the dual-system trains (EVS2, trainsets 1-4) entering service on the Nizhny Novgorod route on 30 July 2010.[6]

Sapsan set records for the fastest train in Russia on 2 May 2009, travelling at 281 km/h (175 mph)[7] and on 7 May 2009, travelling at 290 km/h (180 mph).

On 19 December 2011, a €600 million order for an additional twenty trainsets including eight EVS2 sets[8] was signed in order to facilitate an increased number of services on existing lines and the expansion of new service elsewhere in the system.[9][10] The second-batch EVS1 sets (trainsets 9-20) will be same details as the first-batch EVS1 sets, but the second-batch EVS2 sets (trainsets 21 onward) will have retractable steps to suit for low platforms, unlike the first-batch EVS2 sets.

Operations:
Since entering service in December 2009, it has been Russian Railways' only profitable passenger service, with an occupancy rate of 84.5%.[11] According to the timetable valid from 30 October 2011, the direct train from Moscow to St Petersburg without intermediate stops needs three hours 40 minutes, the train from Moscow to Nizhniy Novgorod three hours 55 minutes.

Introduction of Sapsan initially provoked cancelling of affordable daytime trains between Moscow and St Petersburg. Since the end of 2012, Moscow – St Petersburg daytime trains other than Sapsan were running again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/17 09:24 by CNStratford.

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Interesting photos and narrative.
Thanks for posting.
ALLEN

We rode the SAPSAN train three years ago and found the seating even in first class to be very cramped compared to it's ICE and TGV counterparts. Ride was smooth but crew rude....even to my Russian speaking girl friend (maybe they knew she was Ukrainian!)

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We rode the SAPSAN train three years ago and found
> the seating even in first class to be very cramped
> compared to it's ICE and TGV counterparts. Ride
> was smooth but crew rude....even to my Russian
> speaking girl friend (maybe they knew she was
> Ukrainian!)


I've ridden the Sapsan as well and didn't find it cramped or the crews rude. Andy you just don't like Russia.