Almost everything is here. Air conditioning, video surveillance, toilet rooms (really rooms, not a corner to relieve oneself), doors with an electronic key, even compartments for people with disabilities disabilities. And there are twice as many seats here - the carriages are double-decker, but this is still the most ordinary train...
The reserved seat carriages were unusual. They are not found anywhere except Russia and former USSR countries. This is solely our invention.
In 1951, German drawings of the Ammendorf plant, as was customary in the post-war period, ended up at the Kalinin Carriage Works. Here, under the leadership of KVZ director Ivan Alekseevich Lukyanov, the design of the compartment car is being brought up to Soviet standards. The doors are removed, the partitions are cut and sealed, adding 18 side seats. For 65 years they have been traveling around the country like this... In 2006, in honor of the inventor of the reserved seat car, one of the Tver boulevards was named.
It is noteworthy that the first double-decker carriage in Russia was made at the same Tver Carriage Plant in 1905.
The 21st century arrived in 2013. An unexpected turn - the Tver Carriage Works is again starting to produce double-decker cars, which should completely replace reserved seat cars.
New carriages are not much higher than usual
But you can photograph them in different ways, even from the same angle. Here they are huge and scary
And here they are cheerful and fast-paced
Once inside, you won't even understand what floor you are on. This is the first
And this is the second one. Almost no differences, except for the mirror at the end of the corridor
First floor compartment
The second one is almost the same.
God, a 220 socket! Not in the aisle next to the reclining chair, not in the toilet with the warning “For razors only”, but in the compartment and as many as two pieces! Although, why not four then?
Intercar doors open with a button and close automatically
Entrance to the compartment using cards
The most popular search query starting with the words “What happens if” will gradually become a thing of the past. Start typing this phrase in Yandex if you don’t understand what I mean.
On February 1, this train began traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Departure at 22:50, arrival at 6:47.
Guide's kitchen. Microwave, coffee machine, thermopot... I don’t understand where the cup holders are hidden.
The dining car is decorated with collages. On the one hand, Moscow - the Kremlin, the Tsar Cannon, the University, on the other - St. Petersburg. They just didn’t take into account that sculptures are created in such a way that they are looked at from below. Face to face they look monstrous.
Nothing supernatural. Just a train the way it should be modern countries. I would even say a budget train. The price is not much more expensive than a reserved seat and is usually cheaper than all other compartment trains on this route.
Special thanks to the train chief Kayaev Ali Zhamalovich for his sensitive attitude to his official duty!
I really liked the train. The carriage is clean. The beds on the second tier are already made. The price of the second compartment shelf is lower than the price of the side shelf of a reserved seat on another train. Very good departure and arrival times
Very clean compartment, polite conductors, I really liked everything, especially the fact that it was clean and there was no toilet or smoking smell.
When boarding, it was quite cool in the carriage... the conductor calmed me down, saying that they had been standing all day, saying, where will the heat come from... it will appear after the train departs... For such a fare, they could put it in the amenity kit cheap slippers... but apparently not fate. For food, Tula gingerbread and 250g. a bottle of water.... in general, the impressions are not the most rosy. The complete disappointment was made up for by the fact that the carriage was new and fairly clean. I use railway transportation quite often and I can say with confidence that I haven’t seen anything better than TKS yet....
I liked everything, except that the air conditioner worked too hard - it was a little cold. Although it became warmer at night - apparently they reduced the power. Otherwise, everything was fine - the carriage was new, the toilet worked properly, there was soap, toilet paper, and hand towels in the toilet. Attentive staff, you can order breakfast in the compartment (for a fee). There is a dining car, although I haven’t been there myself. The food included in the ticket price is, of course, purely conditional - a bottle of water, mint candy and gingerbread. The carriage is quite quiet, at least on the 2nd floor (before this I traveled on the Tyumen branded train - it was almost impossible to sleep - constant rattling and shaking).
Comfortable train. Both the 1st and 2nd floors are comfortable. I'll go there next time.
It was surprising that there were boxes with a set of spices and utensils on the table. But the second thing was not served. If it’s not supposed to be there, why put them there............
Comfortable and convenient train. We were on the 2nd floor, very convenient. The sockets work, the food is fast.
Great train, the train commander is cool, strict guy, you won’t spoil him!!
In 2013, the first train with double-decker passenger cars produced by the Tver Carriage Plant was formed. We have encountered the disadvantages of single-decker cars more than once and present them. But we still do not know the disadvantages of traveling in double-decker carriages.
Double-decker cars have their own specific disadvantages, which are different from single-decker cars:
- There are almost twice as many seats in a double-decker compartment car (instead of 36 there are now 64), but there are still the same number of conductors, so the service will be slower (you will have to wait longer for tea) and the boarding time in the car will increase (the queue will be longer).
In a double-decker carriage, there are stairs not only to the second floor, but also to the first, which is especially unpleasant with heavy luggage. Elderly passengers will be especially affected, as they will have to carry luggage up and down stairs. This circumstance is aggravated by the fact that the number of passengers will increase and create certain difficulties when walking up the stairs.
There is no luggage rack (third rack) in a double-decker carriage. It is unclear where the luggage of the 4th passenger in the compartment should go. Most likely the amount of luggage will be limited.
There is no titanium in the double-decker carriage. Instead, there is a regular electric kettle. How many times it will need to be boiled and how long it will take is unknown. It is worth remembering that the number of passengers is almost twice as large.
The ceiling height in the compartment of a double-decker carriage is lower than in a single-decker, so the owners of the upper bunks will not be able to sit - there is not enough height.
New double-decker cars have ventilation (inflow fresh air) only while the train is moving. There are no windows and the carriage is hermetically sealed with double-glazed windows. The air conditioner only cools the air, but does not change it to fresh air. The volume of the coupe has been significantly reduced by lowering the height. In summer, during the heat or forced stops, it will be much worse to endure the trip. Moreover, there are 64 passengers in the carriage instead of 36, which is more than in a reserved seat carriage (54 passengers). If the air conditioner fails, it will be a disaster.
Moving along the corridor of the second floor will have to bend slightly, especially for tall people, since the wall and windows are sloping towards the 2-meter high ceiling.
In a regular compartment car for 36 passengers there are 2 toilets (1 toilet for 18 passengers), in a double-decker carriage for 64 passengers there are 3 toilets (1 toilet for 21 passengers). It got a little worse.
Double-decker cars have become higher and during movement such cars sway even more than single-decker cars, which will cause unpleasant sensations especially on the second floor. Climbing stairs while moving (especially for older people) is fraught with injury. It is worth noting that hot tea will also be carried along the stairs, which will also create additional dangers.
It also looks illusory that the tickets will be much cheaper. Russian Railways will not miss the profit. It will be especially unfortunate if Russian Railways does not make an alternative to double-decker trains.
The first double-decker carriage was made by craftsmen from the Tver Carriage Works in 1905. And 108 years later, in November 2013, a double-decker carriage from the same plant set off on a journey across Russia. What routes do double-decker trains travel in Russia now, what is special about them and what services can be obtained in carriages that are still unusual for us?
Double-decker trains in Russia: where and when did they appear?
The idea of a double-decker train dominated the minds of engineers back in the century before last. The result of the development was a double-decker carriage produced at the Tver Carriage Plant in 1905. It was intended for long-distance transportation, and the first floor was reserved for animals and livestock.
In the USSR, several attempts were made to launch double-decker trains. At first they tried to purchase cars made in the GDR. They operated on some commuter routes. Then there were attempts to create their own versions. The Leningrad plant named after Egorov produced a prototype in which the first floor was sleeping, and the second was with seating. Things didn’t go further than suburban and demonstration launches.
Since 2007, Russian Railways has been working on a project for double-decker trains. We were looking for technologies and placing an order. The same Tver Carriage Plant undertook to produce the double-decker cars; in 2013, the first double-decker car was delivered to the customer. And in the same year, a double-decker train moved along the Moscow-Adler route.
Currently, trains with double-decker cars run on 10 routes. Basically, branded fast trains are double-decker.
- No. 642/641, Rostov-on-Don - Adler;
- No. 003/004, Kislovodsk - Moscow;
- No. 23/24, Moscow – Kazan;
- No. 5/6, Moscow - St. Petersburg;
- No. 7/8, Moscow - St. Petersburg;
- No. 103/104 Moscow - Adler;
- No. 738/737 Moscow - Voronezh;
- No. 49/50 Moscow - Samara;
- No. 35/36 St. Petersburg - Adler;
- No. 740Zh/739Zh Moscow – Voronezh.
According to the Russian Railways rolling stock modernization program, the number of double-decker trains on the routes is planned to gradually increase.
Features of double-decker trains
Unlike the experiments of the last century, full-fledged sleeping compartments in modern carriages are located on both floors. Passengers get to the second one via regular stairs. They are not too wide, but “a picture, a basket, a piece of cardboard” is easy to carry through them.
Many pessimists expected that the compartments on the second floor would have low ceilings; their fears were not justified. The ceiling height is standard and comfortable for passengers on both floors.
There are comfortable “accordion” passages between the cars. The doors between them open automatically after pressing a button. Rattling joints between cars with plates moving apart underfoot are a thing of the past.
Passengers note the comfort, safety and good equipment of double-decker carriages. The compartments are locked with an individual magnetic key, which is given to the passenger upon boarding. The carriage has double-glazed windows and energy-saving lamps. Air conditioning and heating systems are installed. The surveillance, control and monitoring system transmits data to the conductor's compartment. Passengers can rest assured about their safety. The compartment also has two sockets for connecting razors and mobile devices.
Comfort comes from the little things. Remember the radio in old carriages, which only the conductor could turn off? In the compartment of a double-decker train, you decide when to listen to music and when not to.
Advantages of double-decker carriages
What other advantages can be noted in double-decker cars, in addition to the modern design of the compartments and good level comfort?
- The number of passengers carried is higher than usual. The new trains have 64 sleeping places per carriage, while the regular trains accommodate 36 people in a compartment carriage.
- The fare on a double-decker train is lower than on a regular compartment because there are more passengers. Compared to fast branded carriages of the same class, tickets are 20–25% cheaper.
- Environmentally friendly. The cars are equipped with energy-saving lamps and heating systems, dry closets, and special containers for separate waste collection.
When purchasing tickets for the branded double-decker train, a dynamic pricing program is available. The earlier you buy tickets, the cheaper they are. As the travel date approaches, the price may increase depending on the demand and congestion of the railway route.
When ordering tickets for a double-decker train, please note that each floor has a separate seating plan.
Services on double-decker trains
For the ticket price you will be provided with:
- bed sheets;
- the top seat in the compartment and all seats in the CB will already be made;
- drinking water;
- food (one time);
- sanitary and hygiene supplies;
- Wi-Fi;
- in luxury cars there are plasma screens for watching movies or news channels.
The signature double-decker trains have a dining car. There is a bar and kitchen on the ground floor, and a restaurant hall on the second floor.
The carriages have compartments equipped with a lift and wide shelves for passengers with limited mobility.
Good news for lovers of home-cooked food and parents of small children - microwaves are installed in passenger carriages. You can make a hot sandwich or heat up food taken from home.
Double-decker trains now connect the south and center of Russia. There are routes from Moscow to Kazan, Samara, Voronezh. It is planned that in the future, on most long-distance routes, double-decker cars will completely replace reserved seat cars.
The last time I traveled by train was 2 years ago from Moscow to Donetsk, before that last time I went about 5 years ago, and somehow I didn’t notice much difference with my childhood memories (as a child, every summer we went to my grandmother and back, so the memories were very clearly etched in my memory) - a cramped compartment, it was blowing from the window, it was cold in the compartment , then it’s hot, a dirty table, vintage mattresses, for which you first need to take linen from the conductor and then turn it in (a separate quest and entertainment). It’s scary to go out into the vestibule, not to mention walk between the cars, and what is it worth waiting in line for the toilet next to the trash can, which was invariably overflowing by the end of the journey? And the dirty toilet that you couldn’t use at bus stops?
But when I was offered to go to St. Petersburg and back by train, curiosity overcame fear. It turned out to be very tempting to go from the center of Moscow straight to the center of St. Petersburg simply by sleeping at night. It's faster by plane, and sometimes it's the same price as by train, but you have to remember that you have to get to and from the airport, arrive an hour before boarding... in short, it's not the most comfortable option for relatively close distances. There was also the extreme option of going by car, but I would have to drive it alone at night after working week 800 km, with no hope of sleeping in the next couple of days. So the train seemed the most reasonable and in a convenient way, and it was interesting to remember the sensations from the sound of wheels and the landscapes passing outside the window.
The most unusual thing that appeared on railway during the time I did not use their services - double-decker carriages. They launched about a year ago. Now there are two trains - to Adler and to St. Petersburg, both from Moscow.
The double-decker carriage was designed to carry 64 people, and was packed to the gills with cheerful Chinese citizen tourists. We enter the carriage - it is light and clean, there is an even row of compartment doors. Do you remember when trains used to have reclining seats in the corridors in compartment cars? There are no such chairs here. There is a staircase leading to the second floor and externally the corridor of the first floor is no different from the corridor of the second.
The compartments themselves have also undergone significant changes, perhaps only the layout remains the same as before, only now the shelves in the compartment are immediately filled with linen.
Do you remember how you left the compartment one by one, allowing your neighbors to get the mattress? Cover everything, while trying to prevent dust from flying in all directions and not touching anyone with your hands? Now you can go straight to bed without unnecessary movements.
It also seemed to me that the shelves had become longer - at least this time my legs did not rest against the wall. visually there is definitely no more space here than in a regular coupe. The air conditioner was working. The windows have double glazed windows, “goodbye to drafts.” But there is another side to this - if the air conditioner breaks down, there is a chance it will boil, the windows will not open. Two sockets “the joy of an iPhone”, right in the compartment. Lamps, a mirror, the table is covered with a clean tablecloth, there are hangers It is stated that a travel set of bathroom accessories is included in the price, but I was too lazy to go to the conductor to get it. 
The toilet is practically a masterpiece. And this is not sarcasm. The most important thing is that you can use it at any time. It’s clean, quite spacious (although there isn’t that romantic window on the right whose handle was so convenient to hold on to), there are napkins and soap, and an almost nanotechnological flush button. There are three such toilets in a double-decker carriage (compared to reserved seat carriage There are more toilets per person, and fewer toilets compared to the compartment ones). The vestibule next to the toilets widens a little, so several people can stand quite comfortably while waiting their turn - it’s funny that they thought of this. And the display in the carriage displays the “toilet status”, meaning whether it is occupied or not. Very convenient. True, it was possible to go further and make such an indicator right in the compartment, so that there would be no need to get up from the shelf. 
A separate entertainment is the passage between the cars. No scary accordions with a shaking floor and flashing sleepers and dirty vestibules. Now there are cheerful orange doors with silver corrugation, a hard floor, it’s quiet and not scary at all. I remember that panicky childhood fear when I had to walk between the cars - I was incredibly scared to fall through, and it was just dark and very, very noisy. Now the doors between the cars open at the press of a button with a quiet pneumatic sound, and close completely automatically, allowing you to move unhindered towards your intended goal (but smokers will suffer - there is absolutely no place to kill a cigarette here.) 
I had a goal. I don’t remember ever being in a restaurant carriage, so out of ethnographic and research interest I decided to go. The dining car also has two floors, the restaurant itself is on the second, utility rooms and a bar are on the first. They say the food is delicious and not very expensive relative to Moscow prices, but it was late, I didn’t want to eat and wanted to sleep, so after taking a couple of shots I preferred to go to bed. 
One of the nice perks is that the double-decker train has WiFi, although there is a suspicion that it simply works via a modem from a cellular operator: that is, when cellular communication there is, there is also the Internet. And when the train rushes in the wilderness, and the base stations are tens of kilometers away, it is not there. 
I was traveling from St. Petersburg to Moscow in a two-story car (number 006). In St. Petersburg, I ended up on another train, a single-decker one (No. 004 “Express,” as it says on the ticket). Almost everything is the same there - clean, quiet, good toilet, but no wifi and one socket per compartment. But I was amazed that the passengers were offered a light dinner - in the compartment there were boxes of water, cookies and yogurt right on the table, and the conductor asked what we wanted for breakfast (there was a choice of three dishes - porridge, cheesecakes, pancakes) and in the morning she brought it - it was shock! For the first time on the train we were given normal hot food (free of charge). 
True, I had to pay 30 rubles for tea in a branded glass holder. I wonder, by the way, is this a way for the conductors to earn tips for themselves, or is breakfast and dinner really included in the ticket price on this train, and tea is an additional fee? In this case, “where is the check??”? But the price of tickets on this train is higher than on the “two-story” one. 
By the way, Russian Railways now has a flexible pricing system on some trains, almost like on airplanes - the greater the demand (the fewer seats left on the train), the more expensive it is.
Here's an estimate of the prices in a week (I suspect that this is not very far from the possible minimum): 
A compartment with a double-decker carriage departing “tomorrow” will cost more than 3,000 rubles (if the seats are sold out - and they are usually all sold out).
According to my impressions, Russian Railways has made quite a big step forward in terms of developing the quality of service and comfort, but it is not without its peculiarities. I’ll tell you straight away, to the carriage branded train I have no complaints at all - everything was very cool there (though without wifi). But here are a couple of comments about the double-decker carriage:
1. Stairs - for older people and those with heavy suitcases, it is better to immediately choose seats on the first floor
2. Claustrophobia - for those who don’t really like confined spaces and low ceilings, it’s better not to take top places on the second floor. The ceiling there is slightly sloping towards the window, and hangs very low above your head.
3. Space for luggage. I fully admit that we were somehow unlucky and had a special compartment (farthest towards the stairs), but under the bottom bunk there was some kind of metal technical box that took up almost all the space. So we barely managed to fit in my backpack (the size of hand luggage on an airplane) and Tanya’s suitcase (not much larger). I can’t even imagine what people will do with large bags, baby strollers, skis, bicycles, because there is no “third shelf” on which all this was stuffed in the old carriages. I really hope that somewhere there is a luggage compartment that can be used if necessary. If you have a lot of luggage, it is better to take another train.
4. Poor conductors. The carriage became two-story, the number of passengers doubled (compared to a regular compartment carriage), and there are still two guides. The conductor honestly told us that if we need something (tea or something else), then it’s better to go to him right away, and not wait for him to bring it, because it will take him several hours to serve fifty Chinese.
