What does a long-distance train travel on? Group discounts on Russian Railways

You learned about how vast our homeland is in childhood, in a geography lesson. And then it hit your head to travel the whole place by train in 6 days. It’s a good start, the journey will be educational. But the situation on the train you board is, of course, spartan: no bath or even a shabby shower stall, strange food at obviously inflated prices in the dining car, dangerous neighbors and many other little things. Now we will tell you how to get through this with minimal losses.

Don't stink

From the moment you stepped through the doors of the carriage, about the familiar water procedures will have to forget. To maintain your human appearance, throw some dry shampoo in your bag. This thing works extremely simply: you spray it on your hair from an arm's length away, wait a couple of minutes until the absorbent (which is what dry shampoo is) sucks up particles of dirt, grease and dust from your hair, and comb it out thoroughly. Your head won't be as clean as regular shampoo, but it's a worthy compromise for the duration of your trip. And don't use it every day, it won't be good for your scalp. Point two - wet wipes to wipe particularly odorous areas of your body. Choose those that say “for intimate hygiene”; they will dry out your skin less than others.

Do not get lost

Always carry your ticket, passport, compulsory health insurance policy and cash with you. First of all, people steal on trains. Secondly, in any emergency, this set will help you cope with the situation. For example, you were gaping on the platform somewhere in Ulan-Ude and the train left without you. Go straight to the station duty officer, show your passport and ticket. If the train leaves earlier than it should (this happens if the train does not fit into the schedule), you must be transferred to the next one. And if you missed the departure yourself, well, at least you will be refunded part of the ticket price. And the sooner you report the situation, the closer you will have to go to get your luggage: your things will be left with the staff of the nearest station.

What will we go on?

If you are planning to take this train, it won’t hurt to know something about it. Here are a few facts that you can show off in front of a pretty fellow traveler:

1. The branded train “Russia” No. 2/1 (that is the name of the train running from Moscow to Vladivostok and back) set off on its first trip on September 30, 1966.

2. The train covers 9,259 km, making it the longest railway route on the planet. Travel time is 6 days plus or minus an hour.

3. The train passes through 14 regions, 90 cities and 8 time zones.

4. On the way, the train passes 65 stops. The shortest ones are only 1 minute, for example Bogotol and Achinsk. The longest ones are for half an hour (you can go out to stretch your legs, say, in Khabarovsk and Belogorsk).

5. In addition to the branded “Russia”, there is also an unnamed one along the route Express train under number 100E. Tickets for it are cheaper, which affects the quality of the finish and, probably, the politeness of the conductors. It also takes 19 hours longer and makes as many as 126 stops.

Don't stick it anywhere

The frequency in the socket that you will find in your compartment (if you are not traveling in a reserved seat, of course) is 200 Hz, it is designed for electric shavers. Stick your phone or laptop into it and don’t complain because it’s broken. For portable equipment, each carriage has a common socket - you have to shamefully stand next to it and guard your device if it is charging.

Stock up on food

In order for the food you took with you to remain edible for a long time without refrigeration, you need to meet two conditions: a minimum of contact with air and moisture. It’s clear that the product itself should not be perishable, so forget about cottage cheese. But with another important source of protein - meat, everything is better.

Option one is to bake, for example, pork with spices. Here is a recipe from the chef and host of culinary programs on NTV Konstantin Zhuk:

1. Take pork tenderloin (700 grams), rinse with cold water and cut off all visible fat;

2. Make holes in the tenderloin and stuff 10 cloves of garlic into them (if the cloves are large, cut them lengthwise and stuff them in anyway);

3. Drizzle the meat with olive oil, rub generously with salt and pepper (take a tablespoon of both, these are natural preservatives; you can also add any aromatic herbs to your taste), then wrap tightly in foil;

4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, bake for 1.5-2 hours. Ready! This dish will last even in a warm place for two days.

The second option is to dry the meat into chips. This, of course, is not a full dinner, as is the case with baked tenderloin, but such food will not spoil for a week, or even longer:

1. Cut a 600 gram piece of pork or beef into strips - as thin as you can (you can additionally beat the pieces to make them even thinner);

2. Mix the marinade: 5 tbsp. l. sugar, 4 crushed cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp. l. vinegar, 5 tbsp. l. soy sauce and 1 tbsp. l. ground coriander. Place the meat in the marinade and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, preferably 8;

3. Place baking paper on a baking sheet, place pieces of meat on top and bake in the oven at 100 degrees for 45 minutes so that all the moisture is removed from the chips.

There is no need to limit yourself to these two recipes. You can fry or bake any meat or poultry, as long as the product retains a minimum of moisture (and don’t forget to generously salt and pepper, but so that the dish is still edible). Pack food tightly in foil or a food container and do not use cling film - without a refrigerator, bacteria in it will multiply very quickly.

What to eat when you run out of roast pork? Canned legumes will help you: beans, chickpeas, beans, etc. Look for ready-to-eat ones and get your fix straight from the jar. Legumes are full of slow carbohydrates - your body will digest them for half a day, and you will not get hungry soon. Ignore the stew, but rather take with you a few cans of baby fish and meat puree. Of course, it tastes disgusting, but it is the most dietary food possible, without preservatives or flavor enhancers.

If you're in trouble

1. There is a police squad on the train along the entire route. So if you are missing your things, go to them. It’s not that they are any different from all the other policemen you’ve seen before, but at least these guys have the right to walk around the carriages and compartments and check the passengers to see if any of them are wearing the same biker jacket that you signed personally by James Hetfield.

2. Report to the conductor if you feel unwell - he will take action. You will be taken to the first station, where you will be transferred to an ambulance, where you will be taken to the nearest hospital. Having seen your passport and compulsory medical insurance policy (you carry them with you, as agreed?), people in white coats will be obliged to save you. Good news: as soon as you come to your senses, you will be transferred to the next train for free, heading to Vladivostok. But to do this, you will need to show the cashier at the station not only your ticket and passport, but also a certificate from the hospital that they really had you.

Transport and the ways of using it are very similar to our Russian realities, but only more convenient and understandable. Each country has one or even several carrier companies, for example, DB (Deutsche Bahn in Germany, ?bb in Austria, etc.). Each company has a website with schedules and tickets and, most likely, there are automatic terminals where you can buy tickets, which are available at train stations. In small towns there may not be a ticket office with a person, so you will have to buy a ticket yourself from a machine.

IN general view we can say that the trains are local (local transport) and international high-speed express trains ICE, IC (Inter City Express) from Deutsche Bahn or similar, but from other transport companies.

ICE,IC they are more comfortable, travel quickly, stop in large populated areas, and the trains have bistro cars and restaurants. Tickets can be purchased online: they are generally not cheap, but there may be discounts if you buy in advance.

Train in Norway:

Train in the Czech Republic on a local route:

For trains (especially IC and ICE) there are car layouts on the platforms

Sometimes there is such a thing with trains: the train travels most of the way in one direction, but at one station some of the cars are disconnected and travel in a different direction. That is, the train is divided into two parts: part goes in one direction, part in the other. We once came across such a feature when we were driving in Bavaria. The train splits into 2 parts quietly and quickly. It may help to look at the movement pattern of the cars and the movement pattern of the train itself. True, such trains do not happen often; mostly there are ordinary trains.

This is what a fission train looks like in the diagram

See the traffic diagram on the train itself

Alternatively, if you need several trips every day, it’s easier to buy ticketInterrailPass for the required number of days and not think about the price of a ticket for ICE, IC (when traveling to France I had to buy additional reservations for the train, but basically with the Interrail Pass no additional payments are needed, and you can travel almost throughout Europe, including ferries) .

Local trains may have special tickets. Actively distributed in Germany: this is the so-called. land tickets, for example, North Rhine-Westphalia Ticket and others. In Germany, such a ticket is valid for the whole day and applies to all local types. public transport(trains, electric trains, metro, buses, trams and, possibly, individual ferries, ski lifts, etc.). Traveling with such tickets in Germany is convenient and profitable, especially if a group of several people is traveling.

Local trains make more stops and are not as comfortable as international express trains, although they are quite acceptable and much better than domestic trains.

At train stations and in the metro, as a rule, there are elevators, so if you have a lot of things, don’t rush to carry them up and down - feel free to go to the elevator and use it (as in Russia, elevators there are not locked and there is no need to call somewhere for a person to come and open the elevator). Perhaps there are escalators or travelators for luggage upstairs (a moving belt next to the stairs on which you place your luggage, and it rises along the belt).

Do trains in Europe have toilets?

All trains (that I saw) are equipped with a toilet, which, as a rule, has water, paper, soap, and paper towels.

At train stations, toilets are often paid, costing about 0.5 euros. You can pay in cash or by card at the entrance to the automatic turnstile. As far as I remember, the machine gives change and you can pay, for example, 0.1+0.2+0.2 euros.

If you want to save money, wait for your train and use the toilet for free.

Hint. Often, the toilet at a large station will give you a receipt, which you can present at the station café as a voucher to offset the 0.5 euro towards your purchase. So, for example, if a purchase costs 5 euros minus 0.5 euros for the toilet, you need to pay 4.5 euros for food. detailed information information about this offer is located directly in the toilet itself - on the door. Perhaps somewhere there is some kind of stand or booklet about where the discount is valid.

How to travel on a train with a child?

Some trains have special areas for children, where children can freely play, crawl, run and not disturb other passengers.

How to travel on a train with a dog? Or, conversely, without animals?

As a rule, you can carry pets with you on trains. In Norway, when purchasing a ticket, you could additionally indicate whether a carriage with animals was needed or not. I chose carriages with animals. As a result, I was traveling in a carriage with several dogs.

How to transport bicycles?

In Europe, not only on trains, but even on buses it is possible to transport bicycles. You need to clarify this possibility when choosing a flight and pay additionally for the transportation of a bicycle.

What is first or second class?

Trains (cars, areas in them) have a comfort class: first class and second class. Second class is quite acceptable for travel; almost all passengers use it. First class on local trains is almost like second class. There may be fewer people, noise, tables, etc.

The class of a carriage or zone in a carriage is marked with a number.

Do I need to show tickets?

Unlike Russia, entry to any platform and any train is unhindered; no documents or tickets need to be presented upon entry. As a rule, regular tickets are sold without a seat - this means that the passenger can take any available seat on the train at his discretion. The main thing is to enter the zone of the carriage of your class (if you bought a 2nd class ticket, then travel in second class).

Tickets without indicating the seat in the carriage (may be of different formats, including printed on a printer)

Ticket indicating the seat (ticket + reservation)

For cyclists, places are usually near the entrance to the carriage. There may be special racks for bicycles.

There are also places for the disabled near the entrance; it is advisable not to occupy these places, but to sit in the empty regular seats.

While the train is moving, the controller approaches the passengers one by one (or maybe not) and asks them to show their tickets. He will mark the tickets with the date and time of inspection. It may happen that different controllers will put several marks, for example, if you crossed the state border, if you were traveling on different trains, and in other cases.

Ticket with several checker marks (vertically) (marks were put by both Czechs and Germans)

May be required to present bank card, with which the ticket was purchased (if it was purchased with a card), the card must belong to one of the passengers. In this regard, it is best to make sure in advance whether you need to present a card when purchasing a ticket and buy tickets with your personal card or with cash.

The conductors keep track of who has entered the carriage and after each stop they can pass the train and check the tickets of newly entered passengers. That is, there is no need to twitch every time the inspector enters the carriage; if he needs it, he will come on his own. But all tickets and maps can be prepared in advance, especially if you are not fluent in a foreign language.

How to get on and off the train?

In Europe, trains (and subways and trams) do not open all the doors at every station; you have to press a button or turn a handle to open the door. At the station, when the train has stopped, the train will unlock the doors, you can press the button (it will turn green) and the doors will open. If the button gives a red signal, the doors may not be unlocked yet, you need to press it later. Buttons in carriages both inside and outside.

There are old model trains, there are different handles that you need to turn to open the door. As a rule, according to popular destinations The trains are new, that is, with buttons.

Do I need to validate my ticket?

Individual tickets - yes, need to be validated. They usually fit into the composter and have arrows and corresponding text on them. When possible, I prefer to buy tickets for the whole day; you don’t need to validate them (if the date is already on the ticket), you can get on and off trains according to the direction, change trains, and choose any train from the schedule.

That is, whether you need to validate a ticket, it is advisable to clarify when purchasing by reading the information on a specific ticket. Most likely, intracity transport and S-Bahn trains and the like need to be composted, but regional trains (in the Russian sense, also electric trains) do not need to be composted, because there are day tickets.

Composter (you just need to put the ticket in it)

Tickets may have arrows and text encouraging you to validate your tickets.

But you can buy a ticket that is valid for a certain day (you don’t need to validate it)

Composters on the railway are located at the bottom before going up to the platform or on the platform. On buses, trams, etc. - in the transport itself. If the composter is not working, write down the date and time you entered the train with a pen.

All major train stations have tourist information areas or rooms. Even so: there are consultants in the center of the station + a room where you can buy and exchange tickets and also ask questions. Consultants, as a rule, answer some simple questions like: where are the platforms, how to get to the trains, etc., and in the offices you can buy tickets and get a schedule.

In the Czech Republic they printed out train schedules for me in the direction between cities, and in France and Austria they gave me mini-booklets with the schedule for the direction. Such booklets can be in the public area and you can come to the station and take them.

To clarify the movement of trains at the current moment, as in Russia, you can watch the board. In Germany, the platforms are known in advance, but can sometimes change. In other countries I had trains, exits to the platforms for which you had to wait, like in Russia, on the board. Only, unlike in Russia, neither platforms, nor the beginning of boarding, nor the end of boarding are announced over the loudspeaker at the station. Everyone needs to look at this on their own.

As a rule, one large display is located in the center of the station + monitors can be hung around stations, located in large stores, cafes, etc.

Advice! If you are afraid of losing your train, it is better to come to the station in advance and see in advance where which platforms are located. When you know your platform, you will immediately go to it.

What is a seat reservation and do I need to make one?

Buying a ticket to regular train in Europe, you buy the opportunity to travel on a train in any available seat in your class. As a rule, all trains are half empty and there are no problems with seats at all, but there are destinations or dates when the trains are packed to capacity and it is difficult to find a seat. In this case, it is worth buying a seat reservation on the train. It is usually inexpensive.

When should you buy a seat reservation?

• On Friday evening, on weekends, because... locals love local tourism and sometimes it seems that they go on vacation in entire cities.
• For particularly popular destinations in the high season, say, etc.
• When you need to travel far, for example, 5 hours, and you don’t want to twitch, changing from place to place.
• When you have a lot of things or you are traveling with a group or with children and want to travel together, and not just 1 person in a carriage, in different places.
• When there is a preference for a seat by the window or not, at a table, with a dog, with a bicycle, with a child, etc.

You can reserve a seat along with purchasing a ticket - on the website, or in a machine, or at the station. Sometimes you can buy a seat reservation separately - you need to check on the railway website in advance. In Germany this is definitely possible.

Where can I leave my luggage on the train?

Luggage can be left at the beginning, end or middle of the car on the luggage racks (which I always do, but you need to get on the train early so that there are free seats) or on top shelf(above the chairs). If there are few people on the train, then you can put things next to you, by the next seat or right on it.

Do the controllers speak English?

As a rule, yes. You can ask them how long or how long the journey is, how many stops there are, whether it’s time to get off at such and such a station, etc.

What is the fine for traveling without a ticket?

I didn’t clarify this issue in numbers, but everyone says that the amount is very significant. I don't want to check. But there are directions for which my tickets have never been checked.

Is it possible to walk from carriage to carriage?

Yes, before the train starts moving and while it is moving, you can safely walk from car to car. The doors open either automatically (there is a presence sensor at the top), or you press a button, or pull the handle to the right - there are several modifications of the cars. One thing is clear - moving between cars is easy. For example, in search of a free seat, in search of a conductor (ask a question), in the toilet of the next car, in a restaurant car, in a bistro, if there are any on the train.

Do you have any other questions? Would you like to add to the article? Write in the comments.

I travel by train quite often long distance and not really, every time I try to notice something useful, necessary, convenient for myself, and then I came across such a wonderful post, adding my own comments, I decided to make a selection useful tips and secrets about how easier/more convenient it is to travel on trains. Use it!-)

1. Interrupted route. Any person can get off the train at the station, stay there for some time, and travel further using the same ticket, but on a different train.
A stopover along the way is actually possible for up to 10 days, once in any city along the route that you like. You just need to go to the station administrator within 4 hours of arrival and make a special note on the ticket; if you continue on, you need to “validate” the ticket; you may have to pay extra money, but not much. There are categories of passengers who can make more than one such stop, disabled people and their accompanying persons, veterans, and several other categories of beneficiaries.

2. Side seats, near the toilet. In a reserved seat carriage, the well-known “side seats, near the toilet”, these are seats 37, 38.
If the door is slammed and there is no way through!
That means a side wall near the toilet.
This place is cursed, tell everyone.
Don't take place thirty-seven at the box office!

3. Sockets. Sockets in reserved seats are located near the boiler, opposite the toilet on the non-working side, in the second and eighth compartments reserved seat carriage(39-40 and 51-52). In the compartment between 3 and 4 compartments and between 7 and 8 compartments in the corridor. If they don't work, just ask the conductor to turn them on.

4. Buy a seat in a double compartment. The standard carriage has 54 seats, but after the introduction of mandatory provision of linen for passengers, the reserved seat seats became two fewer. 53.54 places are given to conductors. in compartment cars, compartments with 2 seats were taken from the conductors and assigned numbers 37-38, and the first compartment with seats 1-4 was withdrawn from circulation. This scheme only works on trains traveling for more than 36 hours, and only on Russian Railways. Buying a ticket to compartment carriage try to buy seats 37-38, you will ride almost like in NE.

5. Refrigerator. Each carriage has two “winter refrigerators”, each with a volume of 150 liters (previously they kept an emergency supply of fuel for titanium and the heating system, then with the widespread introduction of electric heating, the place remained empty, and the instructions remained, so it turned out to be a sudden good thing from new electrical technologies), so you can ask the conductors to put all the fragrant products there, not forgetting about the reward.

6. Reserve tickets at the box office. Each train has so-called “reserved seats”, they are called “NP Personal Reserve”, two seats in compartment cars and three in a reserved seat. Usually they are not put on open sale, but are issued to those who go on business trips from the government. structures or for funerals.

7. Luggage. Of course, no one finds fault with the same 80 percent of people who violate baggage rules, which state: that hand luggage and baggage in total can be 36 kilograms (in CB 50 kg) in weight and 180 cm in total perimeter (length + height + width). On long-distance trains, against the established allowance hand luggage a passenger can carry baby strollers, kayaks, bicycles without a motor, unassembled and packaged.

8. The head of the train. NP - Tsar and God on the train, while the train is on the way he does not obey anyone (not even Yakunin), but everyone without exception obeys him - both conductors and electricians. You can find the head of the train like this: this is the compartment car closest to the restaurant car. NP either in office space NP, either in the first compartment (NP compartment), or moves around the train. But even if he wanders around the train, it’s easy to find him, there is one road on the train, look for a person with two (on branded trains three) stars on shoulder straps. One star is also a boss, but is only called TEM (train electric mechanic) and at night replaces the NP. If you identify the car from the outside in which the NP is traveling - by an antenna made in the form of a long wire stretched over the roof of the car.

9. Electronic registration. If passed electronic registration, then the ticket can be printed no later than an hour before the train departs. Then the lists go to the conductors and the ticket can no longer be printed. Obviously, this was done to exclude the possibility of returning the ticket, but going according to the list from the conductor. Accordingly, it works the other way around - you can register online no later than an hour before departure, otherwise a ticket purchased online must be printed at the terminal or at the ticket office.

10. Key. The key is a triangular key, it can be used to open and close inter-car doors and toilets, as well as windows. But be careful, if you get caught, they might take you off the train. This key can either be purchased at Expedition or taken from the elevator operators.

11. Shower. There is a shower in the ceiling of the toilet, closed with the same triangular key. In the summer it is quite possible to wash yourself, since the tanks are on top and the water is well heated.

12. Music in carriages. It depends on the personal preferences of the NP, so you won’t guess; you can get Kadysheva with Mikhailov, or you can get the Beatles with Queen.

13. Windows. Try not to buy tickets to places with numbers 9-12 49-50, 21-24 43-44, there are blind windows.

14. Bed. If you do not pay for the bed, then you cannot use the mattress and pillow. You are not obligated to collect and return the bedding (unless, of course, this is your gesture of goodwill to help the conductor). The conductor's responsibilities indicate: remove bedding after disembarking passengers; in exceptional cases, with the consent of passengers, it is allowed to remove bedding no earlier than 30 minutes before arrival railway station disembarkation of passengers.

15. If there are no tickets. If you take a ticket for a passing train, for example from city “A” to city “B”, but there are no tickets, then take it to the next nearest station “C”, and “Oh, miracle! There are tickets!”, This is due to the reserve for settlements, just leave early and that’s it.

16. Russian Railways- “Rejoice, You Arrived Alive” - this is exactly what the railway workers and conductors themselves joke about the abbreviation.
Remember these tips and let train travel bring you only pleasure!-)

p.s. add if anyone has anything else to say-)

My experience as a subway driver is almost twenty years. Before, I worked as a guide and was away for a week or two every month. When I got married and had a daughter, I wanted to spend more time at home. I decided to take a subway driver course. There they checked my eyesight, hearing, blood pressure, whether I was a drinker or not a drinker, whether I was morally stable, whether I had been reported to the police - everything was fine with me. Although these checks were formal, they took just anyone. Some were obvious drunks, and one was such that we immediately realized: a guy with a shift. I don’t know how he passed the medical examination, but he worked for five years until he was imprisoned for murder.

Regarding the courses themselves, practice has shown that a tenth of all the knowledge that we have received is enough to control a train. By the end of our studies, we could probably disassemble and assemble the entire composition. They knew where everything was screwed on, the parts and the structure of all the components. There were lectures five times a week, they simply read the material to us, like at the university.

Mostly guys from the suburbs were hired as drivers. If they are from Kiev, then mainly from Obolon - so that they live close to the depot. For some reason they didn’t take women. I only remember one. They didn’t take it, probably because women need to be given a separate room so they can sleep after the night shift, and a separate shower room. But we had everything in common, just like in the army.

In general, to work as a machinist, you need to be phlegmatic. Or rather, even if you don’t give a damn, you don’t take everything to heart. The work is generally monotonous, but stressful situations also occur.

About passengers

They fall on the rails quite often. When I first got settled, there was an incident: a soldier was AWOL, apparently running away from a patrol. The train had already started moving, and the guy decided to catch on to the last car. He grabbed the handrails, held on for a while, and then lost his grip and flew along the sleepers. As far as I remember, it all ended sadly there.

Most often, passengers fall from the platform at Vokzalnaya. I didn’t hit anyone myself; once I only hit a drunk with my mirror, but he, thank God, didn’t fall under the train. And other guys had cases. If you hit a passenger, you are immediately given three days to recover. Some take a week or even a month.

When a person falls on the rails, the driver instantly brakes, fortunately the brakes are brutal. After this, he should not move the train even a centimeter, so as not to add pressure.

We had a “champion” in the number of passengers shot down - four, it seems, on his account

Under the platform there is a third, contact, rail energized at 825 volts. Usually, if a person falls, he ends up between this rail and the car, that is, he simply gets stuck there. The voltage, of course, is immediately cut off.
Once I helped pull out a fallen passenger at Teatralnaya. He suffered for an hour and a half: it was pinched tightly. Then the driver broke the rule: he drove away a little, and we pulled the man out. After such a shock, some scream, while others, on the contrary, cannot utter a word.

We had a “champion” in the number of downed passengers - four, it seems, to his name. He is a hero father with many children, so according to the law he could not be fired. He runs over someone, and then goes on sick leave for six months to look after the children.

There was also a time when it became fashionable to walk on sleepers in open areas. I remember driving at midnight and I saw a man coming. In such a decent black suit, but for some reason barefoot. The interval between trains is long, and he almost managed to get from Gidropark to Levoberezhnaya. I stopped and dragged him into the cabin. “Well, finally,” he says, “I’ve waited. It's hard to go." I ask why barefoot. He explained that the sleepers were slippery and shoes were uncomfortable. I got with this “passenger” to the station, handed him over to the dispatcher, and he handed him over to the police.

About train control

The train “turns” itself. Or rather, what everyone calls “turns” - for us these are “crooked sections”. The train passes them without turning the wheels, due to the slope of the tracks. But the driver has a job: open and close doors, brake, accelerate, monitor the instruments.

We usually drive at a speed of 40–50 km/h. The maximum speed of the train is 80 km/h. More is possible, but it is risky, since some of the cars are already more than 50 years old. In Moscow and St. Petersburg there is no such junk - they sold it for scrap. Our cars, which were going to be written off back in 1990, are still running.

The average normal distance between trains is 600-800 meters. When a train runs behind schedule and is delayed at a station, the one following it is forced to stop in the tunnel and wait. In such cases, it seems to passengers that the train has stopped between stations, but in fact I see the tail of the train in front, between us at most 150 meters. This happens because, for example, at the same "Vokzalnaya" the crowd for a long time cannot squeeze into car, and the train stops 10-20 seconds longer than expected. When the distance between the trains decreases, the train that follows is automatically activated and it brakes itself.

In addition, a special device every 50 meters shows what maximum speed I can travel at (it depends on how far the train is in front). It happens that you are driving 80 km/h, and the device suddenly shows that the permissible maximum is 40. If you do not have time to slow down smoothly yourself, the train automatically slows down. It is at such moments that the train twitches and it seems that all passengers must, by inertia, fly into the first carriage.

About work schedule and salary

From 06:15 to 07:00 is the morning peak, at this time almost all drivers go to work. In about 10 minutes we pass the medical examination and leave. Lunch break - half an hour. If you need to go to the toilet, you have to wait until the depot. There is one day off per week, only four days off per month. So little because we have a six-hour working day. True, there are also busy weekends: I finished work on Friday morning and left at 6 pm on Sunday.

In winter you don’t see the sun at all for weeks. When the shift is morning, and you live in the suburbs, like me, you get to work by train. Those who finished the night shift, and the next one in the morning, spend the night in the depot at Darnitsa or Akademgorodok. There, the metro rents apartments for employees in a Khrushchev-era building where they can spend the night.

The speed is low, the instruments are in sight, everything is under control. Some drivers read newspapers and magazines on the road, play on their mobile phones, listen to music

Salary with all allowances and bonuses - up to 5,000 thousand hryvnia. If you fall behind the schedule by more than 10 seconds, you may be fined (subtracted from the bonus). And sticking to a schedule can be difficult. People take a long time to come in - the train was delayed at the station. And not only are you late, but you also have to pick up a little more people from the next station.

But in the evening, when the interval between trains is about 10 minutes, as soon as you pass the time. I did push-ups and squats so as not to go crazy from boredom. Right in the cockpit, of course. The speed is low, the instruments are in sight, everything is under control. Some people read newspapers and magazines, play on mobile phones, listen to music.

About secret tunnels and purses on the rails

When there was no Teatralnaya station yet, the train went from the University directly to Khreshchatyk. Later, a parallel tunnel was built for Teatralnaya, but the old one was left. They began to carry garbage from the entire line into it. In 1995, the garbage caught fire - smoke and stench were all over the branch.

There are also tunnels from Arsenalnaya towards Dnepr - there
a whole complex in case of war. Nobody admits what exactly is there. I caught a glimpse of the huge metal gate a couple of times. There is also a small train there - a toy train, as we call it. They say it runs on diesel, not electricity.

The lights are on in the tunnels, so I can see when someone walks there. While driving I meet a lot of people, mostly electricians. They do not cross paths, they walk along a special path, on the right along the track.

And when you drive into Vokzalnaya, a wonderful picture opens up: on the left in a row are wallets for every taste! This is how pickpockets work: he pulled out his wallet, took out the money, and at the stop he threw it into the gap between the train and the platform.

About the human factor

At all stations of the red line, the doors open on the left side, and only on the Dnepr - on the right. It happened more than once that passengers, despite the warning sign on the doors, leaned against and fell onto the platform. There was a case when I myself made a mistake - I opened the left doors on the Dnepr. Luckily, no one fell out.

Drivers have a rule: you cannot leave the cab at intermediate stations. And one jumped out of the cab at Beresteyskaya: the woman with the cart couldn’t squeeze into the carriage, so he pushed her in, the doors slammed and the train moved on. Everything worked out well, the train reached Svyatoshino, the automatic system worked, and the train stopped. The passengers, I don’t think, even noticed anything. But the driver was fired, although he had about 30 years of experience.

About devices

Everything is arranged in such a way that it is impossible to open both the left and right doors at the same time. Also, you cannot open the doors in one carriage - only in all of them at once. The new trains are more difficult to travel on. They brake more sharply, but this is bad - the wheels become “square” and slip. We call the new trains tractors - their levers that set the train in motion are designed like those of a tractor.

There was a case when the driver had already pulled into the depot, and it was unclear how he switched the drive to reverse and drove at a speed of 80 km/h! Luckily I braked quickly. After this incident, they made a special button to make the decision to go back more meaningful.

There is also a walkie-talkie. When you talk to the dispatcher, all the drivers on the line can hear you. You need to talk to the dispatcher if someone has fallen, if you are late, and in some other cases. But it's better when you don't have to talk to him at all.

There is also a button for announcements via speakerphone. When I first started working, there was only a recording of station announcements. Everything else had to be shouted into the microphone. Sometimes they shouted obscenities. But, characteristically, none of the passengers complained.

Since the title is about fuel for trains, and this term, according to Vladimir Dahl’s explanatory dictionary, initially included horse-drawn carts that followed each other, in particular during a wedding ceremony, representing a single “wedding train.” The meaning of the last word comes from the Russian word trip. In this case, oats served as fuel for the horses.

With the development of new technology, the same V. Dahl also came up with new definitions of the word “train”. Now this definition includes all the cars that were coupled together and represented a single train driven by a steam locomotive. Efron and Brockhaus, who were: the first Russian, and the second German publishers, went further. They stipulated one more condition for the word “train” - this is the quantitative and qualitative composition of traction units in such a composition. So the same cars appeared, coupled to each other, which were necessarily driven by a locomotive placed at the head of such a “caravan”.

When horse-drawn transport lost its significance as an intercity transport and remained only as a transport unit within the city, people began to apply the meaning of the word “train stock” only to the railway.

Subsequently, the meaning of the word was repeatedly changed and supplemented with new technical terms, including in the definition the presence of identification and light signals, listing technical means, stipulating the conditions that could fall under this meaning.

Subsequently, exceptions appeared that could not be considered and called a “train,” starting with road transport.

The advent of the steam locomotive era came to us in the nineteenth century and reigned supreme railways ah of the world until the mid-twentieth century, until the first diesel locomotives, and then electric locomotives, appeared on a mass scale.

Based on the name of the first steam locomotives on the railway, the operation of their engine was provided by steam, and for its production fuel was needed, and this was the famous coal. Somewhat later, in areas where oil production was taking place, heavy fuel oil was used for locomotives. But still, on the scale of our Russia, on the territory of European countries and on the American continent, initially only coal served as fuel for the locomotive. In the hard times of the revolutionary days, as well as during the Civil War, wood or peat were burned in locomotive furnaces, sometimes dried fish was used as a completely exotic fuel. On a steam locomotive, a tender served as coal fuel storage. Water supplies were also stored in such a carriage. On locomotives that did not have such a tender, all their coal fuel and water were stored on the locomotive itself. For this reason, this modification of the locomotive was called a “locomotive tank”.

Solid fuel burned in the boiler furnace. To ensure its combustion, a grate was used. Waste in the form of slag and ash was collected in the so-called ash pit, after first passing through a sieve of a special grid.

By using large quantity fire and smoke pipes heat exchange took place and water was heated in the boiler, forming the same steam that was sent directly to the steam engine, which ensured the movement of the locomotive, activating the crank mechanism, which was ultimately transformed into the rotational movement of the locomotive wheels.

It should be noted that the engineers who created the locomotive miracle followed a very difficult path when inventing their machine. Initially, they relied more on their intuition than on specific calculations.

Technology that was improved could serve people for a long time. In this case, the engineers were on the right track, being in constant creative and technical search, including new types of fuel. For these purposes, enthusiasts suggested learning how to properly burn coal dust, which could significantly increase the useful fuel coefficient of the charcoal used. At the same time, combustion volumes could not increase. But all these proposals were only theoretical calculations, without any solid practical basis. As a result, coal dust did not serve as fuel, since the inventors never achieved operational reliability of the pulverized coal units of steam locomotives. It was not possible to fully curb the combustion process of coal mass, including coal dust, at high temperatures. Therefore, this type of fuel was abandoned.

After this, the era of searching and creating additional equipment to increase the efficiency of the coal fuel used began. This is how the first Duplex stockers appeared, which provided a two-way supply of solid fuel to the combustion chamber. In the USSR, a similar thing was installed on the “IS” and “FD” locomotive modifications.

American inventors offered locomotives so-called mechanical devices: “pushers,” which successfully loosened frozen coal directly in the tender. As a result, the already loosened fuel was supplied directly to the stoker via a conveyor.

In the twentieth century, transport units appeared in the form of diesel locomotives, which already used diesel fuel for power plants. It could be a direct diesel engine or a gas turbine installed. True, the train carriages continued to be heated with coal for a long time.

Then the first electric locomotives appeared, which were initially consumed as fuel

Electrical energy of direct current. Subsequently, they gradually began to switch to using alternating current. This type of transport units has proven itself as environmentally friendly transport. The emission of harmful substances has been significantly reduced.