I read, that people buy this CityStar ticket in Slovakia but choose to board the train to Moscow in Budapest. Is this okay if there are other trains to Moscow (from Žilina) which do not go through Budapest? It would be great for me since Split (via Zagreb) is better connected with Budapest than it is with Bratislava (or Žilina for that matter).
If I go to Bratislava and buy this CityStar ticket, do I simply say that my destination in Russia is Vladivostok, or do I have to name all of the intermediate stations in between?
Can I choose one route TO Vladivostok and a different one back FROM it?
After checking every possible combination at reiseauskunft.bahn.de from Zagreb to Bratislava, there is no reasonable way for me to be in Bratislava in time for the through train to Moscow without spending an extra night in Bratislava.
So I think I will use your advice and travel from Budapest to Chop and then board the direct Moscow train.
Since the bogies are being changed and the train to Moscow resumes from Chop at 04:18 there is plenty of time to even maybe see the whole procedure as it takes place.
Do you think it will be a problem for me to board the train so late in the night? I mean, people will probably be sleeping in the compartment I get so...
Do you know how much would the sleeper supplement cost from Chop to Moscow? From Zilina to Moscow its 24€.
And also for the return trip, from Chop to Budapest, how much would it cost (on top of the 17€) to stay in the sleeper wagon?
Regarding alternate routes within Russia, if the ticket cashier enters the stations like in your ticket, does that mean that I could also choose a route Moskva-St.Peterburg-Novosibirsk?
I am from Split, and in order to catch the EN Venice-Budapest I would have to wait in Zagreb from 20:30 (last tilting train of the day) to 4:40 and that is too much. So, Chop it is.
I will buy the sleeper reservation Chop-Moskva and back in Bratislava when I buy the CityStar, and if they don't/can't sell it from Chop onward...
... I will simply buy a sleeper reservation Budapest-Moskva on top of my regular ticket Budapest-Chop from Hungarian railways since I will have the ticket from Chop onward with the CityStar.
The exact route I had in mind, using the same border crossing between Ukraine/Russia - Zernovo, is like this:Moskva - St. PeterburgSt. Peterburg - Moskva...Yekaterinburg - via Kazan - VolgogradVolgograd - KazanKazan - Moskva
If this is not possible using the CityStar, I will buy the domestic russian ticket, but of course, I would like to save money if it is possible.
Between Zernovo(Gr) and Vladivostok only available route is via Briansk*Moskva*Novosibirsk*Habarovsk.
Thanks for the info, but that's a pity... Did ZSSK gave any decent explanation about that? Since it seems strange to have the limit for the only route
ZSSK now issues only electronic tickets, not manual any more.
But RZD is problem, not ZSSK, because RZD doesn't issue all the routes.
John, you can definitely go Ekaterinburg - Moskva part via Kazan. Also you can go via Yaroslavl. I know cases that CityStar ticket was used on this routes. There arre also direct trains Moskva - Siberia which go via Kazan or Yaroslavl, so no problem. I was also wondering myself, since between Moskva and Novosibirsk there is no through point stated will be possible to go via Penza - Samara - Ufa - Cheliabinsk since once it was also the route of Transsiberian (like the route via Yaroslavl), but I'm not sure about it.
I heard also stories, that somebody tried to go via BAM with CityStar (again, because between Novosibirsk and Habarovsk there are not through points stated), but I don't know how it ended since East-West fares for reservations for BAM are not available, only domestic ones.
... domestic Russian reservations are highly expensive (eg. Moskva - Vladivostok 231 EUR T4), but you can save at least for Moskow - Irkutsk part by using BČ coaches on Minsk - Irkutsk train, or direct coach Warszawa - Irkutsk. For example, reservation T4 Moskva - Irkutsk costs 155 EUR, but Minsk - Irkutsk in BČ coach costs 56 EUR, or Warszawa - Irkutsk 54 EUR.
Split 17:09 21/07/2012Budapest 08:25 22/07/2012Budapest 09:25 22/07/2012 Bratislava 12:06 22/07/2012 - spend the day in BratislavaBratislava 23:02 22/07/2012Warszawa 07:38 23/07/2012 - spend the day in WarszawaWarszawa 21:00 23/07/2012Minsk 08:42 24/07/2012 - spend the day in MinskMinsk 22:18 24/07/2012Moskva 09:20 25/07/2012
Moskva 00:49 17/08/2012Warszawa 17:43 18/08/2012Warszawa 20:36 18/08/2012Bratislava 05:40 19/08/2012Bratislava 05:53 19/08/2012Budapest 08:40 19/08/2012 - spend the day in BudapestBudapest 17:05 19/08/2012Split 08:39 20/08/2012
Split 17:09 21/07/2012Budapest 08:25 22/07/2012Budapest 09:25 22/07/2012 Bratislava 12:06 22/07/2012Bratislava 13:57 22/07/2012Moskva 10:58 24/07/2012
Moskva 23:44 17/08/2012Sl. Nove Mesto 06:44 19/08/201230minute walk from Slovenske Nove Mesto to SatoraljaujhelySatoraljaujhely 07:47 19/08/2012Budapest 12:00 19/08/2012Budapest 17:05 19/08/2012Split 08:39 20/08/2012
Thank you for that 50% information, but does that apply only to "whole" tickets (ticket + reservation) bought in Russia, or also just for reservations bought anywhere?
...since I can't (at least I think I can't) buy Russian domestic tickets outside of Russia.
Regarding http://passport.uic.asso.fr/login.dhtml, the site requires a username and password to login.
Unfortunately the 50% discount is only for domestic tickets, and as I red on russian forum it will not bi valid in summer 2012.
...something tells me that this "promotion" will only last from August 31st till December 22.