Citystar-ticket to Russia

Citystar ticket to Russia

2008-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

The Citystar-ticket is a discounted international railway ticket offered by many European railways. The most interesting options are available in Slovakia, as Slovakian railways (ZSSK) sells Citystar-tickets even to destinations in Russia.

Whereas the Citystar-Ticket is a return-ticket for trips from Slovakia to Russia and back, also one-way-tickets for trips inside Russia are relatively cheap if bought in Slovakia (often cheaper than if bought in Russia).

Some price examples (one person, 2nd class, 4-bed-cabin, 2010 prices):

Moskva - Irkutsk:
one-way: 267 EUR (1)
return: 445 EUR
+ 1 additional stop in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) or Novosibirsk:+ 36 EUR
+ 2 additional stops in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) and Novosibirsk: + 86 EUR

Moskva - Vladivostok:
one-way: 365 EUR
return: 596 EUR
+ 1 additional stop in Irkutsk: + 60 EUR
+ 2 additional stops in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) and Irkutsk: + 96 EUR

Moskva - St. Petersburg:
one-way: 69 EUR (1) ordinary Slovakian ticket, not Citystar)
return: 138 EUR (1) ordinary Slovakian ticket, not Citystar)

Bratislava - Moskva - Vladivostok:
one-way: 390 EUR
return: 645 EUR
+ 1 additional stop in Irkutsk: + 60 EUR
+ 2 additional stops in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) and Irkutsk: + 96 EUR

Bratislava - Moskva - Irkutsk:
one-way: 313 EUR
return: 493 EUR
+ 1 additional stop in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) or Novosibirsk:+ 36 EUR
+ 2 additional stops in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) and Novosibirsk: + 86 EUR

(1) for this trips the Citystar-ticket is not the best option. The prices listed are with ordinary international tickets bought in Slovakia.
Also domestic Russian tickets should be considered for these trips.

How to get the Citystar-ticket - click here

Some facts about the Slovakian Citystar-ticket to Russia:

- return ticket from any station in Slovakia to all important stations in Russia and back
- available for at least 1 child (6-11,999 years) up to 5 adults and 1 child (6-11,999 years), who are travelling together.
- two children count as one adult
- two route options are available: Slovakia-Poland-Belarus-Russia and Slovakia-Ukraine-Russia
- ticket validity is 1 month
- stopovers are allowed

It is also possible to use only parts of the Citystar-ticket:
a) only one-way instead of return
b) only parts of the route (like Moskva - Vladivostok instead of Bratislava - Vladivostok)
c) combinations of a) + b)
However, it might be possible, that another type of ticket (for example an usual international ticket bought in Slovakia, which also has a 30% discount compared to the normal international fare) is cheaper for such trips. This depends on the trip and the number of passengers travelling together.

Some facts about ordinary one-way-tickets bought in Slovakia:

- valid 2 months
- 30% discount compared to tickets bought in Austria or Germany
- no group discount

However, all international tickets (= train tickets bought outside Russia) consist of two parts:

1. The actual ticket, which allows to travel from place A to place B in a 2nd class seating car. The ticket is not for a specific date, train, carriage or seat. It's just for a specific route.
The Citystar-ticket is a special discounted ticket:

2. The sleeper reservation. The sleeper reservation ensures you a specific bed on a specific date, on a specific train and in a specific carriage:

Only with both parts you can travel by train in Russia with international tickets. It is possible to have one ticket for the whole trip (e.g. Moscow - Vladivostok) together with seperate reservations for each leg (Moscow - Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk - Irkutsk, Irkutsk - Vladivostok).

Domestic Russian tickets (those tickets, which are sold inside Russia) are ticket and sleeper reservation in one, printed on one sheet of paper.

In addition to the Citystar-ticket also sleeper reservations are needed, it works like this:

Citystar-ticket Bratislava - Vladivostok - Bratislava
sleeper reservation Bratislava - Moskva
sleeper reservation Moskva - Irkutsk
sleeper reservation Irkutsk - Vladivostok
sleeper reservation Vladivostok - Novosibirsk
sleeper reservation Novosibirsk - Perm
sleeper reservation Perm - Moskva
sleeper reservation Moskva - Bratislava

This are all papers needed for a Transsiberian trip from Bratislava to Vladivostok and back with stops in Moskva and Irkutsk on the way to Vladivostok and stops in Novosibirsk, Perm and Moskva on the way back.

The prices listed above include "ticket" and "sleeper reservation"

More information:

Prices for the Citystar-ticket
Sleeper reservations and prices
Total fare (Citystar-ticket + sleeper reservation)
Timetables
Travelling in 1st class
Travelling in 3rd class (platskartnyj)
Travelling to/from China, Mongolia, etc
How to get the Citystar-ticket

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Timetables

2008-02-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

All domestic mainline trains in Russia (and most other states of the former USSR) as well as international trains from Central Europe to Russia and trains from Russia to China and Mongolia are included in the database of the travel planner of the Austrian railways http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en.

You can also use the timetable of the German railways at www.bahn.de, it has the same database.

The best train connection to get from Slovakia to Russia:

Unfortunately the most useful train connection for getting from Bratislava to Moscow and back is missing in the databasa. So I write the timings here:

to Russia:
Bratislava dep 14:10 - Moskva Kievskaja 9:53 (2 days later)

The direct waggon to Moskva is only attached at Zilina (200 km east of Bratislava, arr 16:50, dep 17:05), but you can already at Bratislava get on a seating car (no reservation needed) of train 609 (goes to Kosice) and then at Zilina change to the Russian sleeping car (reservation needed), which will at Kosice attached to another train going to the Ukrainian border, and there it will be finally attached to the Budapest - Moscow train.
Reservations from Zilina are possible with train no. 609, from Kosice with train no. 8815.
Available places are Single, Double and T3.

back:
train 15VJ: Moskva Kievskaja dep 22:13 - Bratislava 14:08 (2 days later)
The same as in the opposite direction: You have to leave the Russian sleeping car at Zilina (11:19 - three hours before reaching Bratislava) and move to seating waggons running in the same train to continue to Bratislava.
Reservations from Moscow are possible using train number 15VJ.
Available places are Single, Double and T3.

The reservations for the route Zilina - Moskva and back can be obtained in many European countries (e.g. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc).
However, as the direct route doesn't appear in the timetable database, the ticketsellers might tell you, that you can't book this train. However, you have to convince them to just try it and make the reservation with the data above (train no. 609 eastbound, train no. 15VJ westbound).

This route goes via Ukraine, so the cheaper version of the Citystarticket applies and no transit visas are needed.

Total fare (Citystar ticket + reservation)

2008-02-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Some examples for total fares (Citystar-ticket + sleeper reservation, prices valid untill december 2010):

TYPICAL INTERNATIONAL TRIP FROM CENTRAL EUROPE:
(might be part of a trip to/from China/Mongolia too)

Bratislava - Moskva - Irkutsk - Vladivostok - Moskva - Kiev - Bratislava:

Citystar: 134 EUR
Reservation Zilina - Moskva: 24 EUR
Reservation Moskva - Irkutsk: 155 EUR
Reservation Irkutsk - Vladivostok: 136 EUR
Reservation Vladivostok - Moskva: 231 EUR
Reservation Moskva - Zilina: 24 EUR
TOTALLY: 704 EUR

For the short trip from Bratislava to Zilina in Central Slovakia (from where the direct sleeping car to Moskva starts) no reservation is required (2nd class seating car).

for 2 persons:
Citystar: 201,6 EUR
Reservation Zilina/Kosice - Moskva: 2x 24 EUR
Reservation Moskva - Irkutsk: 2x 155 EUR
Reservation Irkutsk - Vladivostok: 2x 136 EUR
Reservation Vladivostok - Moskva: 2x 231 EUR
Reservation Moskva - Zilina/Kosice: 2x 24 EUR
TOTALLY: 1342 EUR (671 EUR p.P.)

See the timetable at http://citystarticket.blogspot.com/2007/08/timetables.html
for timings of the Bratislava - Zilina - Moskva route.

TYPICAL TRANSSIBERIAN TRIP:
(might be part of a trip to/from China/Mongolia too)

Moskva - Vladivostok - Moskva:

Citystar: 134,4 EUR (the part Bratislava - Moskva and Moskva - Bratislava remain unused)
Reservation Moskva - Vladivostok: 231 EUR
Reservation Vladivostok - Moskva: 231 EUR
TOTALLY: 596 EUR

To compare: If you buy a domestic ticket in Russia, the return-trip in train 1/2 "Rossiya" will cost in average 900 EUR (up to 1020 EUR in summer). The saving with the Citystar-ticket is about 300 EUR.

for 2 persons travelling together:
Citystar: 201,6 EUR (the part Bratislava - Moskva and Moskva - Bratislava remain unused)
Reservation Moskva - Vladivostok: 2x 231 EUR
Reservation Vladivostok - Moskva: 2x 231 EUR
TOTALLY: 1126 EUR (563 EUR per person)

Moskva - Vladivostok or v.v. (one-way):

Citystar: 134,4 EUR (the part Bratislava - Moskva and Vladivostok - Bratislava remain unused)
Reservation Moskva - Vladivostok: 231 EUR
TOTALLY: 365 EUR

for 2 persons travelling together:
Citystar: 201,6 EUR (the part Bratislava - Moskva and Vladivostok - Bratislava remain unused)
Reservation Moskva - Vladivostok: 2x 231 EUR
TOTALLY: 664 EUR (332 EUR p.p.)

Moskva - Irkutsk - Moskva:

Citystar: 134,4 EUR (the part Bratislava - Moskva and Moskva - Bratislava remain unused)
Reservation Moskva - Irkutsk: 155 EUR
Reservation Irkutsk - Moskva: 155 EUR
TOTALLY: 445 EUR

for 2 persons travelling together:
Citystar: 201,6 EUR (the part Bratislava - Moskva and Irkutsk - Bratislava remain unused)
Reservation Moskva - Irkutsk: 2x 155 EUR
Reservation Irkutsk - Moskva: 2x 155 EUR
TOTALLY: 824 EUR (412 EUR p.p.)

Moskva - Irkutsk or v.v. (one-way):

a normal international ticket from Slovakian railway is cheaper:
international ticket Moskva - Irkutsk: 112 EUR (if bought in Slovakia)
Reservation Moskva - Irkutsk: 155 EUR
TOTALLY: 267 EUR

For additional stopovers (for example at Yekaterinburg (=Sverdlovsk)) the price of the ticket (Citystar-ticket) remains unchanged, whereas you need to count the seperate reservations prices (two reservations Moskva - Yekaterinburg and Yekaterinburg - Moskva instead of just one through-reservation Moskva - Irkutsk).
For details about reservations prices see http://citystarticket.blogspot.com/2007/07/sleeper-reservations.html

Sleeper reservations

2008-02-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

To use the Citystar-ticket it's necessary to have sleeper reservations.

Typical prices in 2010 (one person, one way):

Slovakia - Moskva:

in a three-bed-compartment (known as T3 or 2/3 in the reservation systems):
Zilina - Moskva: 24 EUR (1)
Bratislava - Moskva: 22 EUR (via Belarus, no direct train via Ukraine)
Bratislava - Kiev: 25 EUR

in a four-bed-compartment (T4, 2/4):
Kiev - Moskva: 58 EUR (price for Russian trains, Ukrainian trains are much cheaper: 16 EUR)

(1) the direct waggon does not appear in the timetable database of Austrian or German railways. Many ticketsellers therefore might tell you, that such a direct waggon does not exist. In this case you just have to convince them to try to make the reservation with the following input data:
train no. 609 (8815 if from Kosice), from Zilina (or Kosice) to Moskva Kievskaja, avaible places are Single, Double and T3.

I bought a reservation for that waggon recently, you might print it and show it at the ticket counter - as a proof that this waggon exists and that reservations can be made:

Transsiberian railway (examples for popular destinations)

in a four-bed-compartment (T4, 2/4):

Moskva - Vladivostok: 231 EUR
Moskva - Irkutsk: 155 EUR
Moskva - Krasnoyarsk: 134 EUR
Moskva - Novosibirsk: 116 EUR
Moskva - Yekaterinburg: 76 EUR
Moskva - Nishnij Novgorod: 33 EUR

Irkutsk - Vladivostok: 134 EUR

Krasnojarsk - Vladivostok: 155 EUR
Krasnojarsk - Irkutsk: 58 EUR

Novosibirsk - Vladivostok: 168 EUR
Novosibirsk - Irkutsk: 76 EUR
Novosibirsk - Krasnoyarsk: 42 EUR

Yekaterinburg - Novosibirsk: 66 EUR
Yekaterinburg - Krasnoyarsk: 84 EUR
Yekaterinburg - Irkutsk: 116 EUR
Yekaterinburg - Vladivostok: 215 EUR

Nishnij Novgorod - Yekaterinburg: ~66 EUR
Nishnij Novgorod - Novosibirsk: ~108 EUR
Nishnij Novgorod - Krasnoyarsk: ~124 EUR
Nishnij Novgorod - Irkutsk: ~148 EUR
Nishnij Novgorod - Vladivostok: ~224 EUR

Other destinations:

in a three-bed-compartment (known as T3 or 2/3 in the reservation systems):
Budapest - Moskva: 24 EUR (via Kiev)
Wien - Moskva: 24 EUR
Praha - Moskva: 24 EUR

The prices of sleeper reservations to international tickets are the same for every train, meaning that it doesn't matter whether you use train 10 "Bajkal" or train 340 to get from Moskva to Irkutsk.
The price is the same in Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland etc.

However: If you buy a reservation for a domestic Russian trip at any station in Russia, 18% VAT are added to the listed price. No VAT is added to the price of a reservation for an international trip (e.g. Moscow - Vienna).

Buying reservations:

The sleeper reservations can be bought up to 45 days in advance. They are available at railway stations in Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia and many other European countries.

It is no problem to combine a Citystar-ticket with a reservation bought in Germany, Russia or any other country.

If you buy a reservation in Russia: You have to buy it at the international ticket office of the station, as it is a reservation to an international ticket. For reservations for domestic Russian trips like Moscow - Irkutsk 18% VAT are added. A service charge of about 4-5 EUR applies to all reservations bought in Russia.

If you buy the reservation in European countries like Germany, Austria: The ticket clerk may not know that it's possible to book Russian trains. But it is.

It is necessary to take care about the following facts:
- enter the correct train number with letters (e.g. train 2MJ for the Moscow-Vladivostok train). These train numbers can be found out at http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en
- only the numbers and the letters behind the number have to be entered. The timetable of the Austrian railways sometimes shows train like "D 6CH". The booking number is '6CH', 'D 6CH' won't work.
- enter the correct bed-category (T3, T4, Double or Single - see above)
- book not earlier than 45 days before departure
- enter the correct station names used by the railway. Some towns have still their old Soviet names in the railway system. This applies to Nishnij Novgorod and Jekaterinburg. Regarding tickets, reservatiuons and timetables you have to use Gorkij and Sverdlovsk (or Swerdlovsk) to get a positive result!

Problems might occurr with bookings, if you want to board at an intermediate station and not at the station, where the train originates. However, it's easier to get places for intermediate stations if you book in Europe.

See also above for an important note regarding the Zilina/Kosice - Moscow route!

Some examples of sleeper reservation:

Moskva - Irkutsk (3rd july 2006, train 340CH, carriage 6, place 10) bought in Switzerland:

Kiev - Moskva (24th july 2005, train 4KJ, carriage 3, places 29 and 31) bought in Austria:

Irkutsk - Moskva (8th october 2005, train 9IJ, carriage 9, place 27) bought in Russia:

As the reservation prices went up every year in december the prices on this reservations are not the same as the prices listed above.

Citystar prices

2007-12-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

The price of the Citystar ticket is as follows:

From any station in Slovakia to any station in Russia and back (for Russian stations located more than 1500 km away from the border; for closer stations it's a little bit cheaper):

via Ukraine (visa-free for many nationalities):
(prices valid till december 2010; ticket-only prices, withouth sleeper reservation)
1st person: 134,4 EUR
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th person of a group travelling together: 67,2 EUR
children (6,-11,999 years) travelling alone: 67,2 EUR
children (6-11,999 years) travelling together with at least one adult: 33,6 EUR

via Belarus (transit visa usually required):
(prices valid till december 2010; ticket-only prices, withouth sleeper reservation)
1st person: 211,2 EUR
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th person of a group travelling together: 105,6 EUR
children (6,-11,999 years) travelling alone: 105,6 EUR
children (6-11,999 years) travelling together with at least one adult: 52,8 EUR

See here for a Citystar-ticket from Devinska Nova Ves (Slovakia, near the Austrian border) to Ussurijsk (near Vladivostok):

Devinska Nova Ves -> Ussurijsk and back via Bratislava - (Zvolen/Zilina) - Kosice - Chop(Gr) - Mukachevo - Lvov - Ternopil - Podvolochisk - Kiev - Zernovo(gr) - Briansk - Moskva - Irkutsk for only 100 EUR (price in 2006, now it would be 134,6 EUR).
However, this is the ticket-only price, a sleeper reservation (which costs more than the ticket) is also needed!

It is also no problem to use only parts of the Citystar-ticket. It can be also used for just travelling from Moskva to Vladivostok and back. The parts Bratislava - Moskva and Moskva - Bratislava remain unused in this case.

Getting the Citystar-ticket and reservations

2007-07-22T09:29:00.001-07:00

The Citystar-ticket is only sold at railway stations in Slovakia. You might organize your trip so, that you travel via Bratislava.

Buying the Citystar-ticket in Bratislava is no problem, but requires exact knowledge of the border points and the exact route to issue the ticket. Some knowledge of Slovakian language would also help sometimes.

You can also get the Citystar-ticket from a German train-ticketing agency located in Berlin:
http://www.bahnagentur-schoeneberg.de/
You can e-mail them to info@bahnagentur-schoeneberg.de

They will be able to get the ticket (including necessary sleeper reservations) and send them to you.
Also they can assist you with tickets for international trains from Russia into China and Mongolia.

Travelling to/from China, Mongolia, etc.

2007-07-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

The Citystar-ticket is only available for Russian destinations. It makes sense to use the Citystar-ticket for long domestic trips in Russia or trips from Europe to Russia or back.

If you travel to/from China/Mongolia the Citystar-ticket can only be used for the European and Russian part of the trip.

You can for example use the Citystar-ticket for travelling via Slovakia to Irkutsk and then use another international ticket from Irkutsk to Ulan-Bator.
If your trip starts in Moscow, it makes usually no sense to use a Citzstar-ticket for the trip Moscow - Irkutsk. Other options are usually cheaper.

European railways don't sell international tickets for trips to China or Mongolia. You have to get this tickets in Russia (or Mongolia or China) or with the help of a travel agency.
I'm in contact with an agency in Moscow, they can book also this tickets for you.

Travelling in 3rd class (platskartnyj)

2007-07-22T08:52:00.001-07:00

Travelling in 3rd class (platskartnyj) is NOT possible with international tickets like the Citystar ticket. Platskartnyj-reservations cannot be sold to international tickets.

Travelling in 1st class (2-bed-compartment)

2007-07-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

It's also possible to travel in 1st class (2-bed-compartment or 1-bed-compartment).

It's of course more expensive than 2nd class:

The Citystar-ticket costs 50% more in 1st class.

Reservation prices for "Spalnyj Vagon" (or "Double, 1/2" as known by the reservation systems) are about twice as high as for Kupe (T4, 2/4).
You can also book a spalnyj-vagon for single use, meaning that you are alone in a 2-bed-compartment. This (Single, 1/1) costs about 4 times the price of a T4-reservation.