How and when to buy train tickets? Russian Railways services that passengers may not know about It's even cheaper to fly than to travel in a reserved seat.
Russian Railways has suspended the sale of tickets for reserved seat and general long-distance carriages for 2018. Sales will resume only when the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) decides on tariffs for transportation in these cars. It is expected next week.
As soon as the decision is made, the demand for transportation in second-class cars during the New Year holidays will be satisfied in full, Russian Railways notes. In the meantime, you can buy tickets for compartments and SV coaches for 2018.
The decision to suspend the sale of tickets for reserved seats and common carriages for more than 45 days was not made by chance. If in past years the FAS decided to index the fare in this segment to the inflation rate (in 2018 by 3.9 percent, focusing on the inflation forecast), now it proposes to reduce tariffs by 10 percent in relation to 2017. And it turns out that those who bought reserved seat tickets at the beginning of 2018 60 days before Russian Railways suspended sales, bought them at a higher price than at the rate offered by the FAS. Previously, passengers, on the contrary, won by buying tickets at the old price.
Since December 2016, Russian Railways opens sales in 60 days. But by order of the Ministry of Transport, the decision must be made before November 17. The agency set such terms, focusing on the fact that ticket sales for long-distance trains open 45 days before departure, and not 60 days. The FAS was guided by the same period.
In the future, Russian Railways plans to open ticket sales 120 days before the train leaves.
And in the future, Russian Railways plans to open ticket sales 120 days before the train leaves. It turns out that either the order of the Ministry of Transport will have to be revised, or tickets for reserved seats will be sold on the first days of next year in only 45 days.
The FAS itself proposed to reduce the cost of tickets, focusing on the aviation market, where prices fell by 10 percent this year. However, there are no regulated tariffs in the aviation market, there are other pricing laws. And the cost of an air ticket has been marking time for several years (on average for a year), experts say. Now it is 6,000 rubles, Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the AviaPort branch agency, said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
It is unlikely that this figure will change until the end of this year. The highest prices for air tickets are traditionally in August. And if we compare the cost of a flight during the winter holidays with August, then it will be lower. If with November, when there is a lull, then higher. During these winter holidays, airlines may start dumping, says the source of Rossiyskaya Gazeta. After the collapse of Transaero, they gained a large number of aircraft. They now have something to load in the summer (flights to Turkey), but there is no way to use them in the winter (flights to Egypt have not opened). Therefore, it turns out that in November the cost of air tickets drops significantly.
According to the head of the Ministry of Transport Maxim Sokolov, we can talk about reducing the cost of tickets for reserved seats by 10 percent, if a mechanism is found that will allow the company not to go at a loss. Previously, there was a cross-subsidization model in which the profit from freight traffic was used to cover losses incurred in the transportation of passengers. But the government decided to abandon it. And now passenger Transportation also should not be unprofitable. Experts fear that in this case the carrier will compensate for the low cost of a reserved seat and shared carriages at the expense of higher prices for tickets in compartment and SV.
By the way, according to Russian Railways, 97.85 million passengers were transported in October 2017, which is 3.9 percent more than in October 2016. Of these, 89.96 million passengers were sent in suburban traffic (plus 3.8 percent), in long-distance transportation - 7.9 million (plus five percent).
Have you ever traveled on Russian Railways trains?
Have you bought train tickets?
Have you ever asked for a ticket at the box office (or through the Russian Railways website) for the required date and did not find seats on the train? Or find out that there are only reserved seats near the toilet?
Prudent people buy tickets in advance - several weeks in advance. But when they also find such a situation, they usually start to panic.
I will reveal to you one secret that will make your movement on Russian Railways more comfortable.
How do different people buy tickets?
Let's consider 3 scenarios:
1. Alarmists.
Train tickets start selling 45 days before departure.
BUT! In 45 days, only a small number of tickets are on sale. These tickets are usually some of the worst. And nevertheless, they are all immediately sold out by alarmists who see that there are few tickets left on sale. As a result, the alarmists are happy - they grabbed the penultimate ticket in the reserved seat on the side.
2. Ordinary people.
An ordinary citizen realizes that it is time to buy a ticket a couple of weeks before the trip. He goes to the cashier, goes to the Russian Railways website and sees that the worst places are left: reserved seats near the toilet or a compartment of increased cost. Not wanting to go to the toilet, he buys a coupe of increased cost. And I am happy that although I overpaid, he will go with comfort. Promising himself that next time he would take care of buying a ticket in advance. However, this promise will certainly be forgotten.
3. Lucky ones
Some lucky ones remember that they need to go a couple of days in advance. And some are determined already right on the day of departure - for example, when the boss orders them to take time off. They fly to the station like a bullet and quietly buy themselves without a queue the best place: either a good inexpensive coupe or a high-quality reserved seat at the most trump place. Sometimes they are still surprised that such places have not been sold out before them. But they explain this to themselves by the fact that they are always lucky in life.
Tickets do not go on sale immediately, but in small portions. Portions go on sale for a certain amount of time: 45, 30, 15, 10, 7, 3 and 1 days and one more serving one hour before departure!
The first tickets go on sale 45 days in advance. And this, as I wrote above, is only a small part of the places and, indeed, these are the worst places.
There is no need to rush to buy them.
The largest emissions of tickets on sale occur in 10 days and in the morning on the day of departure (or per day). Then you need to buy tickets.
Plus, the outburst that occurs in 3 days is sometimes large too, because it is during this period that it is decided whether to include additional wagons in the composition.
In general, the correct algorithm is:
- having realized in a couple of weeks that it is time for you to buy tickets, be guided by the above periods of ticket sales and periodically (once a day, for example) monitor tickets on the RZD.RU website. If the tickets you need are not there right now, just WAIT QUIETLY.
- when tickets that suit you have appeared, buy them directly on the website.
PS / FYI:
- I knew the idea and used it earlier, but I found the timing of the release of tickets
And one more useful link with information on how the sale of tickets for trains passing through territories belonging to different railway departments (for example, the Moscow-Kiev train) works.
Conclusion from there:
you should not buy tickets at a regular ticket office with a stupid cashier (which are the majority), but you need to buy tickets via the Internet or at a service center.
Russian Railways (RZD) announced the suspension of ticket sales for reserved seat and general carriages of long-distance trains departing from January 1, 2018. At the same time, as noted in the press service of the company, the suspension of sales will not affect high-speed trains and Sapsans. Why did Russian Railways take such a step - in the material RT.
From November 3, Russian Railways temporarily stopped selling tickets for reserved seats and general carriages of long-distance trains of the Federal Passenger Company with departure from January 1, 2018. This is stated in a message published on the organization's website. High-speed trains are an exception.
"Since November 3, the sale of travel documents for reserved seats and common carriages in trains formed by FPC JSC (JSC Federal Passenger Company) has been closed. - RT), following in domestic traffic, starting from the date of departure from the starting points 01/01/2018 (except for trains of the "high-speed" category), "RZD reported.
As the press service of the company told RIA Novosti, the decision was due to the fact that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) did not make a decision on tariffs for passenger transportation for 2018.
Russian Railways promised to resume ticket sales as soon as the FAS determines the tariffs.
- Russian Railways
It is noted that if they differ from the previous ones, then passengers will be compensated for the difference in price or they will be offered to return tickets without penalties.
FAS proposals
Earlier, the Federal Antimonopoly Service proposed to reduce by 10% railway tariffs for long-distance passenger transportation in reserved seats and common cars.
The deputy head of the department, Alexander Redko, explained this proposal by "creating economic incentives for the population."
The relevant issue, he said, was discussed at a meeting of the department's board on Tuesday, October 31.
“Raising prices based on costly logic is wrong. We must focus on the state of competition and the income of the population. Air carriers reduce the cost of their transportation by 10%, and all customers from the railways go to aviation, ”Interfax quotes the official.
At the same time, JSC FPC, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, which is engaged in transportation on long-distance trains, expects to index regulated tariffs in 2018 by 3.9%.
- Russian Railways
Officials consider it inappropriate to raise ticket prices for the company, which is experiencing a decrease in passenger traffic.
“The carrying capacity of Pobeda is 94%, in the reserved seat of the FPK - 74%, in common cars - less than 50%. Here is a reserve, the trains run half empty. What's the point in raising prices for half-empty trains? It is necessary to solve the problem of rolling stock quality, ”Redko stressed.
However, as it became known, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Economic Development opposed the reduction of tariffs.
Freight transportation
As for freight railway tariffs, the Antimonopoly Service did not rule out the possibility of indexing the cost of transporting oil cargoes on an equal basis with all others.
- Russian Railways
“The FAS believes that it is possible to index oil transportation, like all cargo, without exceptions. At the same time, point discounts of up to 50% are possible for certain projects: in the oil industry, also, for example, for fertilizers and metals. We have submitted such a proposal to the draft government decree, ”Redko also reported.
At the same time, the head of the FAS Igor Artemiev noted that the indexation of the freight tariff of Russian Railways in 2018 will be lower than inflation - within 3.9-4%.
“Inflation minus”, that is 4%, is the maximum possible, that is, either 4% or 3.9%. The forecast was downgraded, but this is in the event that the government revises the socio-economic forecast officially, ”TASS quotes Artemyev.
According to him, if the government revises the inflation forecast, for example, at 3.2%, RZD will have indexation within 3.2%.
Passenger fares in 2017
In 2017, the indexation of passenger railway tariffs for transportation in reserved seat and shared carriages of long-distance trains amounted to 3.9%; in compartments, SV and suites of trains not included in the dynamic pricing system - 5%.
The cost of services provided to passengers of long-distance trains and included in the ticket price (bed linen, meals, sanitary and hygienic kits) increased by an average of 5%.
Let us remind you that the transportation of passengers on long-distance trains is carried out by the subsidiary of Russian Railways - JSC Federal Passenger Company. The FAS determines the tariff for reserved seats and common carriages. Tariffs for transportation in SV, compartments and suites are set by FPC in agreement with FAS.
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It is difficult to find a person who has never traveled by rail. Everyone had to buy train tickets at least once. Often, trips are planned in advance and many people try to purchase travel documents in advance in order to choose better places. What will be your surprise if buying a ticket for 3-4 weeks, you find that there are only seats at the toilet. Whether this can happen and whether it is worth panicking, we will figure it out further.
How are tickets purchased by different people?
Each person has their own principles and algorithms, how and when to buy tickets and what to do if the necessary seats are not available. But all people can be divided into several main categories.
Alarmists
Sales of travel documents start 45 days before the day of train departure. Very prudent people from the first days of sales rush to buy tickets, but find that there are only seats near the toilets. In a panic, they buy what they have and remain very happy that they managed to snatch the last places. Although in fact the picture is far from the truth.
The fact is that at the start (45 days in advance) the worst tickets go on sale, for example, near the toilets, and even then in small quantities, so there is a feeling that the tickets are all sold out.
Ordinary people
Most people usually get their travel documents in a couple of weeks. Having looked on the Russian Railways website or going to the ticket office at the station, they may find that there are only bad places near the toilet, or expensive comfortable compartments. If funds allow, a person chooses a compartment and remains very pleased that he managed to buy a ticket. He renounces the next time to necessarily purchase travel documents in advance, but this is quickly forgotten.
Lucky
This category includes people who, in just a couple of days, remember that they need to go, or people who make unplanned trips. At the first opportunity, for example, with a sudden weekend, they run to the station for tickets, and sometimes make a purchase and the day of departure. They are always lucky, and they can buy comfortable seats in a reserved seat or affordable tickets in a compartment.
A few secrets
Not all people know that tickets are not sold all at once, but in small portions. Emissions typically occur in 45, 30, 15, 10.7, 3 and 1 days. But first they sell the worst places near the toilet, and closer to the time of departure, affordable and comfortable tickets become.
The largest receipts occur in 10 days and a day, so the most optimal period for the purchase of travel documents. Also a large selection may be available in 3 days. During this period, the need for additional cars will usually be determined.
If you want to purchase a ticket for a specific place and date, do not rush to do so. Track the appearance of travel documents on our website online and buy the options you like. In addition, by making purchases over the Internet, you can save your time, and sometimes money (when making a payment online, sometimes a discount is provided).
