Travel Notes

Roaring Down the Rails

New, high speed trains make their debut

Despite numerous doubts about the $5 billion project’s feasibility, the first test of the long-awaited Moscow-St. Petersburg high speed train was to be held late this summer, project spokes-man Igor Kiselyov told the Moscow Times. 

Assuming there are no financial setbacks, RAO High Speed Rail, which is known by its Russian acronym VSM, will begin operating the rail link in four to six months, eventually making the trip in 147 minutes. At present, the fastest rail connection be-tween Moscow and St. Peters-burg takes 5 hours.

Since its inauguration in 1991 the VSM project has been criticized as too costly (the original pricetag was $3.2 billion) and environmentally harmful (especially to the Valdai Preserve, which it must pass through). But Kiselyov said support from government officials helped get the project off the ground. 

The VSM project involved laying over 650 km of new track and building some 200 bridges. It will carry about 800 passengers in 12 coaches on each trip. By 2004, RAO High Speed Rail projects it will have complete the run 30 times a day, each way.

If the early reviews on the Demikhovsky trains already running between Moscow and Tula are any indication, the VSM will be heartily welcomed. 

The comfortable elektrichka leaves Tula at 7:19 am and arrives in Moscow at 9:52 am (departure from Moscow at 5:27 pm, arrival to Tula at 8:02 pm). Thus passengers can make the trip in 2 1/2 hours, where it used to take 6-7. 

The blue and white train boasts three first class cars, three second class cars and four third class cars. At press time a first class ticket cost just 35 rubles 40 kopeks (just $1.50), cheaper than a bus ticket (R39). 

Sergei Mukhanov, of Tula, told Express-Gazeta, “It is somewhat unusual. No one is poking you in the ribs with their bag. There is no soliciting from peddlers ... But why is there a bar but no alcohol for sale? They need to fix that!”

A LITTLE PIECE OF ITALY. The Moscow City Transportation Department is testing an Italian-made trolley manufactured by Breda Menarinibus. The trolley is following itinerary #44, which includes a stop across from the resurrected Christ the Savior Cathedral. If the test is completed favorably, the city may begin ordering more  of the Italian trolleyS (after adapting them to Moscow weather conditions).

Aeroflot said it had operating revenues in 1998 of R12.96 billion ($535 million) and a pretax profit of R1.07 billion. In a statement published in Izvestia, Aeroflot said the airline paid a tax on profits of R183 million. The airline’s passenger numbers were up 14% vs. 1997, to 4.45 million from 3.9 million. 

Radisson SAS will open a new hotel in St. Petersburg. at the end of 2000. The project has three investors: the European Bank for Recon-struc-tion and Development ($14.5 million), The US-Russian Investment Fund ($7 million) and Radisson SAS Hotels Worldwide ($4 million). The hotel will have 166 rooms, a two-story lobby, restaurant, bar, four congress halls and a business center.

On August 1, the amount of hard currency a Russian traveler can take out of Russia without special written permission was raised from $500 to $1,500. Passengers must still produce a bank certificate confirming the traveler has legally purchased the hard currency in Russia. Alter-natively, the passenger may show a customs declaration certifying he brought the cash with him into Russia. Foreign citizens can still take out of Russia as much hard currency cash as they declared on their customs form upon entering the country.

For two years, some travel agencies in Ukraine have been organizing tours to Chernobyl Nuclear Station, Argumenty i Fakty reported. The Ministry of Emergency Situations oversees all tours. According to L. Tabach-ny, a ministry spokesman, even if tourists were to stay on the platform of the nuclear station for a whole year, they would only be irradiated at a level “100 times below international norms.” Some 1,200 tourists—mainly from Western countries—visited the station last year.