With the development of modern technology, people's lives have become much easier. You can make almost any purchase or order a service right from home. Booking, buying tickets for travel on Russian trains of domestic and international communication is no exception. We have prepared step-by-step instructions for booking and buying Russian Railways tickets online.
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First of all, you should know that you can issue a train ticket via the Internet no later than 1 hour before the train leaves the station at which the passenger plans to land. You cannot buy a pass even earlier than 45 days (as a general rule) before the departure date. In addition, you must first make sure that the option of online purchase of a travel document for a specific direction is available (since not all trains can be bought in this way).
Registration and search
Let's consider the purchase of an electronic ticket using the example of the site ticket.rzd.ru. First of all, the client has to go through a simple registration procedure (if you have already used the services of the site, you must log in).
After entering the site, we proceed to search for a suitable train in the direction you are interested in, select the type of carriage, and also select a suitable place. To do this, in a special field, you need to enter the name of the starting and ending settlements, the date of departure and then clicking the search button. The screen will display comprehensive information about all express trains running in this direction, as well as statistics on the availability of seats for the specified date.
When looking at the number of free seats, you should pay attention to the types of cars. To facilitate the task, the site presents the actual fare for each of the existing types of cars - compartment, reserved seat, SV, etc.
Potential passengers have the opportunity to choose seats according to several criteria at once: the location of the shelf (upper or lower), the location in the carriage (you can specify a range of suitable numbers), and also order seats in one compartment or compartment of the reserved seat (for tourists traveling in groups).
The fare depends on the category of the passenger. For example, an adult will have to pay more for travel in the same compartment than a child of a certain age. Russian Railways also provide discounts to married couples, pensioners, students and other categories of citizens (the availability of discounts can also be checked on the website).
We indicate the data of passengers
When you have decided on your place in the carriage, you must fill in the fields with passport and other personal data. This is necessary in order to be allowed to board. Be careful, because it depends on the correctness of filling out the form whether you will be allowed to board! It should be noted that the client is responsible for filling out the form correctly.
Adult clients must indicate their passport details, including: name, series and document number. But when filling out the form for purchasing a child ticket (up to 14 years old), you must indicate all the necessary data of the child's birth certificate. In the same case, if the document is booked for a foreign citizen, you need to fill in the fields in the appropriate form for the foreign document.
Since the booking of the pass takes place in real time, a certain time is allotted to fill out the form on the website (no more than 10 minutes). Therefore, you need to enter data promptly.
Fare payment
Since the order of a travel document takes place via the Internet, the only way to pay its cost is by a bank card. The web resource works with cards such as Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard, Maestro. The user will receive a notification about the details and the amount to be paid, for the creation of which he will be allotted about 10 minutes. If the amount is not transferred within the specified period, the order will be automatically canceled.
The client must make sure that there is enough money in his account to pay for the reservation. You should also be prepared for the fact that for security purposes you will be required to go through an additional identification procedure. For more information, we advise you to contact the support service of your bank.
A situation is possible when, after completing all the above actions, the client has not received confirmation of the successful operation of issuing an electronic document. To find out the reason, go to the "My Orders" section and make sure that all the fields in the form are filled in correctly. If it turns out that the order has not been formed, you will have to go through the entire process of registration again.
Obtaining a ticket
After successful payment of the reservation, the passenger will only have to receive an electronic document. Depending on the type of express train, the direction of travel, it can be in the form of an electronic ticket and electronic registration. The difference is as follows.
An electronic ticket must be printed on a regular A4 sheet and presented to the railway ticket office (or use the ticket issuing device installed at the station). If it is not possible to print the form, you just need to write down the e-ticket number and receive a travel document from it at the station ticket office.
But upon receipt of electronic registration, it will be enough just to present your passport to the conductor upon boarding. Since this type of ticket has appeared quite recently and not all conductors are familiar with its form, it is still recommended to grab a printout of the electronic form.
Ticket return
If the passenger has changed plans, he can always return the unused e-ticket and get his money back. This can be done by going to your personal account and carrying out the appropriate manipulations, or by contacting the railway ticket office. In the latter case, the client needs to present a passport and a printout of an electronic ticket (indicate its unique number). Refunds are made to the same bank card from which the payment was made.
Please note that ticket refunds can only be made in Russia. In this case, a certain fee may be withheld from the amount paid (as a forfeit).
