I've Got a Ticket to Ride

For the past couple of weeks, I have been toying seriously with the idea of going to St. Petersburg at the end of August. It seems to me there is no better time I could go. The summer being the slow season for EFL teachers in Russia, I know I am unlikely to have so much time for travelling later in the year. And though a major purpose of my being in Russia is to save money, I also know that my being here is, most likely, a once in a lifetime thing. To come so close to what many describe as the most beautiful city on earth and not go see it would be not only tragic, but tragically stupid.

There is really only one viable means of getting between Russia's former and current capitals, and that is by train. Russians have told me it is not even worth considering flying; a flight between Moscow and St. Petersburg will actually take longer, when pre-flight time at the airport and traffic going to and from airports is factored in. Busses are available, but I gather that traveling by bus is even less comfortable in Russia than it is in the United States (having taken busses to Washington and Philadelphia and occasion, I had a hard time imagining that such a thing could be possible, but apparently it is). And so buying a train ticket seemed absolutely necessary.

I had been told a lot of horror stories about how difficult it might be to purchase a Moscow-St. Petersburg ticket at this time of year. The summer is the most popular season for travel between the two cities, not just for foreign tourists but for Russians as well. I figured chances were good that tickets might be expensive, hard to come by, or both. And so for a long time I vacillated about whether I should even try to get to St. Petersburg at this time of year, or put off my visit until January or February, when getting a ticket might be easier.

Multiple options exist for buying rail tickets in Russia. Nowadays, of course, there is the Internet. Tickets can be purchased online and retrieved at the train station or, for a fee, be delivered to one's home or office. Another possibility is using ticket kiosks located in various locations around the city, including near my school. Because Russia has only recently developed a credit card culture, and still has no tradition of using checks, these kinds of kiosks are necessary for making all kinds of purchases and paying all kinds of bills for which Americans would use the phone or the internet.

I quickly found out, however, that online booking and kiosks carry surcharges, however, and so these did not appear to me to be attractive options. For a shorter journey to cities on the Golden Ring (more about those later, I hope), I might be willing to pay a surcharge. But on what I assumed would already be expensive Moscow-St. Petersburg tickets, I felt it was better to pursue a different option. I felt I would be forced to buy my tickets in what I was forewarned was the most time-consuming and difficult way, by going to the train station itself.

Foreigners in Russia tend to think buying tickets directly from the train station is the least convenient method of purchase, for three main reasons. The first is the language barrier. Russia is not a country known for making things easy for those who don't speak Russian, but at a travel agency or kiosk, chances are good that you can find someone who speaks English. No such luck at train stations; there, the staff speak only Russian and, I am told, are generally impatient with non-Russian speakers.

The second reason foreigners prefer not to buy directly from the station are long lines. I had been told to expect a wait of an hour or more to reach an actual cashier and make a purchase. I have the general impression that long lines are not as much a feature of Russian life today as they were in Soviet times, but there are still a few places they occur, and train stations tend to be one of them.

The third reason foreigners often prefer not to purchase tickets directly from the station is that it requires going to the exact right window at the exact right station. This is not always easy to ascertain. Moscow is served by a bewildering multitude of train stations. There is Belarus Station, for trains bound to Belarus and destinations requiring transit through Belarus (this includes Warsaw and most of Western Europe). There is Kazan Station, for tickets to Central Asia and the regions Americans lump together as the "Stans". There is Yaroslavl Station, serving trains bound for Yaroslavl and other cities on the Golden Ring, to Moscows north and east. And last, for my purposes, there is Leningrad Station (still so called), serving trains to Russia's tsarist capital. There are a few others, but these are the main ones, located on the Metro's Circle Line.

Simple enough, it would seem. But three of these stations are located at one Metro stop, Komosomolskaya, and one square. Finding my way to Leningrad Station, I thought, might prove difficult. And this would be before I joined an interminable queue at what might prove to be the wrong ticket window entirely. I did not relish the thought of having to make a station purchase.

Nonetheless, this morning I bit the bullet and headed out to Komsomolskaya Station, prepared for the worst. I took with me cash for my purchase as well as my passport (required of all train passengers in Russia, not just foreigners). But instead of the worst, I was pleasantly surprised.

I had expected, when I exited the Metro, to find myself in the middle of a square with three stations around me. Instead, I found myself in a warren of kiosks and small shops of the kind one finds everywhere in Moscow. A couple of large buildings fitting the general appearance of train stations were behind them. I walked toward the first, where I saw an outdoor ticket stand. I inquired of someone whether this station was Leningrad station and was told it was not, but that I should go the other direction. I turned around and headed where I had been told to go.

Very quickly, I found Komsomolskaya Square itself and saw the other two stations on it. One had enormous lettering on it reading Kazan Station. By process of elimination, I knew the other one must be Leningrad Station and quickly walked over to it.

Inside, I found, instead of a confusing mess, clear signage indicating where to buy Moscow-St. Petersburg tickets. And, instead of the hour-long queues I had anticpated, I found only a handful of passengers at each window making bookings. I could not have been more pleased.

Having expected the actual purchase to be a hassle, I had gotten a co-worker who studied Russian at university to write down for me what I should ask for. As soon as I got to the head of the line, I read off what had been written down for me and handed my passport. The cashier indicated the price for a return ticket in 2nd class would be about 4,500 rubles (a little under $200 U.S.), about what I was willing to pay. I handed in my passport, was issued my tickets, and went on my merry way.

It's comforting to know I can handle this kind of basic transaction reasonably well in Russian. I hit only one snag; the return ticket I was issued is for the wrong time, and I will have to go back and get it changed. But I now know when to go (Sundays around noon) and how to make clear what I want.

But I've got a ticket to ride, and I don't care.