# We could learn a thing or two from RZD - the Russian Railways



## jis (Sep 26, 2019)

A very interesting article on OTP of RZD and Suburban Railways in Russia.

https://www.rbth.com/travel/331022-russian-trains

Looks like every railroad in the US could learn a thing or two from RZD.


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## Thirdrail7 (Sep 27, 2019)

jis said:


> A very interesting article on OTP of RZD and Suburban Railways in Russia.
> 
> https://www.rbth.com/travel/331022-russian-trains
> 
> Looks like every railroad in the US could learn a thing or two from RZD.



We'd have to know a lot more about the operation before seeing what could be learned. I'm particularly interested in a few statements:



> “If something happens and the train is running late, then the train driver must do everything possible to catch up,” he says. “It happens quite often, but then you simply accelerate to the maximum allowed speed and if you still arrive late, then you have to submit an official explanation to management. And if you did everything in your power - and it turns out it clearly wasn’t your fault - there are rarely any serious punishments.”



What exactly does that mean? Does this mean the train is authorized to skip stops to make up time? A commuter railroad I'm familiar with used to employ this tactic quite often as the stressed on time performance. Do they have stringent ADA laws? Can they delay their trains to accommodate passengers with additional needs?

Another thing of interest is this premise:



> “As opposed to some other countries, in Russia, the schedule is considered sacred. If a passenger train is late, then ideally its route is cleared, with freight trains being signalled to one side to allow the passenger train through,” he says. “Often, one sees trains on international routes from Europe to Russia entering the country already with a delay and it's up to the Russian train drivers to make up for the lost time. International routes are also closely monitored by the president of Russian Railways himself.”



It seems like they have total control of their railway. That isn't really the case in a great of railroads in the US. Each host may consider THEIR schedule sacred which means other trains take the siding. Years ago, the Amtrak Metroliner service had a 10 minute on time performance discount. If you were more than 10 minutes late, you received the difference in fare between the Metroliner and the regular train.


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## MARC Rider (Oct 7, 2019)

Some other great links about Russian train travel from the same site:

https://www.rbth.com/travel/330890-platzkart-trains-russia

https://www.rbth.com/travel/329536-third-class-russian-rail-travel

https://www.rbth.com/politics_and_s...vive-a-long-haul-russian-train-journey_593211


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## Seaboard92 (Oct 9, 2019)

All three of those articles have motivated me to go to Russia.


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## jis (Oct 9, 2019)

Seaboard92 said:


> All three of those articles have motivated me to go to Russia.



Applying for a Russian visa is a pain in the butt. But after that it is more or less quite interesting.


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## MARC Rider (Oct 10, 2019)

Seaboard92 said:


> All three of those articles have motivated me to go to Russia.


Planning to take a ride in Platzkarte (3rd class) before they upgrade the equipment?


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## Seaboard92 (Oct 12, 2019)

MARC Rider said:


> Planning to take a ride in Platzkarte (3rd class) before they upgrade the equipment?



No I’m not sure I could do that. But I definitely would consider second class.


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## jis (Oct 12, 2019)

MARC Rider said:


> Planning to take a ride in Platzkarte (3rd class) before they upgrade the equipment?


Platzkarte in Russia is equivalent (more or less) to what is know as Three Tier non-AC Sleeper in India. Of course the Russian variety is heated for obvious reasons. India does have an AC variety of the 3 Tier Sleeper too. Both are supposed to be reserved assigned accommodation, but like everything else in India - it depends.


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## Gemuser (Oct 12, 2019)

↑


> Planning to take a ride in Platzkarte (3rd class) before they upgrade the equipment?
> No I’m not sure I could do that. But I definitely would consider second class.


Having walked through several Platzarte cars in a number of trains, in August, most of which were pretty much full, I have to agree with Seaboard92, on the other hand Kupe [second class more or less] was quite acceptable.


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## Seaboard92 (Oct 13, 2019)

The thing about me is I like having a place when I don’t want to be social to go and escape it all. I’m naturally a very social person so on the Canadian I don’t mind the sections. But I also know of plenty of hiding holes where I can disappear for a bit if I want to.


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## Willbridge (Apr 9, 2021)

And after a brief interruption, this thread seems to be a good place to post my unexpected research project. In 1936 the noted historian and activist W. E. B. DuBois made a trip around the world. After a visit to Berlin, where years before he had studied,
he went to China and Japan. A condensed schedule for the name trains turned up in his papers in the UofM Amherst library. It was mimeographed by the Intourist office in Berlin with the German spellings of place names of that time.

In what turned out to be a bigger project than I expected I've translated the transliterations and updated place names that have changed. There are notes with older names and a few items missing due to damaged portions of the mimeograph stencil.

In addition to the 2x weekly _Manchuria Express, _which may have just been a sleeper tagged onto the _Siberia _headed to Vladivostok, the schedule for the _Asia Express_ is included. It has a lengthy Wikipedia listing. My dad had a brochure about it from the San Francisco Exposition, the first all-air conditioned streamliner in the world, .

This is how an open section sleeper looked back then in the comedy _Tractoristii._



1936 was a good time to get this bucket list trip taken care of, because all hell broke loose in the next year.


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