Russia - General Information
Country Name
Russia (Россия)
National railway system
RŽD: Rossiyskiye Železnye Dorogi (РЖД: Российские железные дороги).
Official Website
Language
Russian [Cyrillic characters].
Currency
1 Rouble = 100 Kopeks.
UIC code
numeric: 20; alpha: RUS
Timetable
No public timetable is published; as far as is known details are simply posted at stations.
Maps
On-line Map
(Cyrillic place-names) www.uz.gov.ua/?m=all.road.mapa; sections of Dmitry Zinoviev's "Supermap" of the railways of the former USSR, for example parovoz.com/maps/supermap/supermap.php?X=E&Y=2&LANG=en (see hyperlinked English legend for key to colour-coding and types of line used).
Printed Map
None known?
Gauge
Broad (1520 mm).
Electrification
25 kV ac; some 3 kV dc??
Rule of the road
Right.
Other Railways
None.
Tourist Lines
Many cities have a “Pioneer” public narrow-gauge railway that combines a hobby activity for teenagers with practical training in railway operation.
Metro
Moskva, Leningrad
Trams
??
Recent and future changes
??
Special notes
Passenger services on the RŽD railway network are either local or long distance; in principle, two classes of accommodation, known as 'hard' and 'soft' are available. Local services stopping at most or all stations and halts en route do not require reservations, so they have separate ticket office windows.
Long-distance services consist of several coaches divided into compartments, which can be converted into sleeping accommodation for use overnight, and hauled by locomotives. Advance reservation is required for all travel by these trains; intending travellers must present an identity card/passport when making reservations (this is a precaution against 'ticket touts').
Passenger train numbering
Throughout the broad-gauge network of the former Soviet Union, long-distance passenger trains are numbered in the range below 1000, in many cases followed by a letter. The most important trains are numbered below 100. In principle, each train whose destination is to the south and/or west of its origin bears an odd number; the corresponding return working bears the following even number. Note that some run only on alternate days (always odd or even dates at a particular station en route). The schedule for each can be consulted on-line by entering the train number. Local passenger trains are generally numbered in the 6xxx range.