What kind of Russian doesn't like fast driving? Travel on the slowest trains
"And what kind of Russian doesn't like fast driving?» is a popular quote that has been known to us since school. This lyrical digression in the poem "Dead Souls" for some reason became for most a call to speed. Although the speed of carriages, carts, strollers and other vehicles of the 19th century did not exceed 20 kilometers per hour. Unfortunately, trains in Russia are not the fastest compared to other countries. But you obviously don't know that some have not gone far from Gogol's ride.
We will talk only about those for which it is really possible to buy a ticket and ride with the breeze. According to the speed mode, all Russian Railways trains can be divided into three groups: high-speed, where acceleration to 141-200 km / h is allowed, fast passenger trains with a route speed from 50 km/ h to 91 km / h, but passenger trains have 50 km/h or less. These are average figures, since on some stretches the train "Peregrine Falcon" can accelerate up to 250 km/h, and in the future it is planned to "accelerate" up to 400 km/h. In other countries, some trains accelerate unthinkable speeds up to 500-600 km/h. But we'll talk about this another time. Today we will focus our attention on those trains for which 50 km/h is a lot!
An incredibly exciting trip will take place from the Amur Region to the Khabarovsk Territory. The train «Tynda — Komsomolsk-on-Amur » overcomes a distance of 1,469 kilometers and makes 82 stops. The entire journey from one point to another will take 2 days, 13 hours and 29 minutes. It is worth noting that with such a number of intermediate points, there are not so many long-term parking. But the average speed of the train on the way is 26 km/h. But there is a huge plus. The train route lies through the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM), which passes through embankments, swamps, permafrost, taiga and mountains. Therefore, you can enjoy the views from the window for several days.
Also a leisurely route is the Labytnangi — Vorkuta train, which travels 277 kilometers at an average speed of 39 kilometers per hour, stopping on the route 21 times. That is, the travel time is 9 hours and 47 minutes. A little faster will be the train «Adler — Stavropol ». In just 15 hours and 36 minutes, he covers a distance of 555 kilometers, makes 12 stops and overcomes the entire route at a speed of 42 kilometers per hour.
But the record holder for slowness is the route "Zemtsy" Zharkovsky". This amazing train on the Internet has received such nicknames: a train from nowhere to nowhere, a bus, the slowest train. It's just a locomotive with a car, or a car with a locomotive (from the photos you will understand what we are talking about). Its path is only 47 kilometers and passes it in 3 hours and 37 minutes, and in the opposite direction it is 13 minutes faster. It's funny that during this time «Peregrine Falcon » delivers passengers from Moscow to St. Petersburg. And he only goes there and back once on Wednesdays and Sundays. And most importantly, the average speed of this unusual electric is slightly more than 14 kilometers per hour. Just like a carriage pulled by a pair of horses, everything is as Gogol prescribed.
This route has many questions and riddles. Is it interesting only to tourists, lovers of railways and everything unusual? Or there is still a demand from local residents. By the way, the price of the train is fixed and is 124 rubles, and at a reduced rate of 62 rubles. This section of the road was previously planned to create a railway connection between St. Petersburg to Smolensk, via Veliky Novgorod. But the plans were not destined to come true. If you dig, a lot of interesting historical facts are connected with this place.
The prospect is not very bright. There are no plans to extend or change the route. But it will disappear, exactly when the sand embankments along which the rails run will not absorb the swamps. Therefore, all lovers of the unusual still have the opportunity to ride on the slowest train on the Russian railways, which will one day finally go down in history.
We have reviewed countless routes and articles about slow trains. As it turned out, in Russian Railways, many routes that were considered slow literally 1-2 years ago have already "accelerated". And the ground speed of ordinary passenger trains is 50-60 kilometers per hour. Of course, these are average figures, since trains cannot move at the same speed the entire route. There are places where they accelerate, and at stations, stages, the speed is several times less. Therefore, if the average speed of the train is 50-100 kilometers per hour, we can safely say that this is very good. And in principle, Russian Railways is trying to reduce travel time for many routes, but this is not always possible.
Therefore, we will believe that "acceleration" will still come and the minimum average speed will be at least 100 kilometers per hour on most routes. If you know of other trains that are slower than 45 kilometers per hour, share with us in the comments.
