Sapsan train speed. Special places for special travelers. How many hours on the way

So the promised big story about a trip on a high-speed train "Sapsan" from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
The trip took place on December 19 on Saturday morning flight (No. 151), i.е. on the second day of full-scale operation of the composition. Departure from the Moscow railway station - 6:45 am; arrival at Leningrad Station capitals - 10:30. Travel time - 3 hours 45 minutes. There will be few "external" views here, it will mainly focus on the impressions of the trip and the analysis of the pros and cons.

"Sapsan" with burning tail lights at the Moscow railway station in St. Petersburg. 6:30 am

The ticket for Sapsan was purchased by me via the Internet about 12 days before departure, at a price of 2273 rubles; however, I decided not to use the electronic registration offered on the Russian Railways website (to board the train using blank technology, only upon presentation of a passport) this time, and one evening I drove to Vitebsk railway station and received a ticket form at the terminal. On the ticket, attention was immediately attracted by a large overprint in capital letters "NO SMOKING!". This really turned out to be the case: smoking is not allowed on the Sapsan, and when during the trip I talked to a security guard in the bistro car, he said that the train was stuffed with fire detectors everywhere, including toilets, and if even a small dose of smoke (including h. and tobacco) will receive an automatic signal to stop the train. So this is strictly monitored.

At first I wanted to go to the station by car and leave it in a paid parking lot for a day, but then I remembered that in the evening it was planned to go offline with friends in the capital, and in the morning I might arrive not quite in good shape, so I decided to take the metro for complete peace of mind.
The morning timeline looked like this:
5:25 left the house; 5:37 was on the final 5th line (" Commandant Avenue"); 5:43 I left by metro train; 6:14 I drove to Pl. Vosstaniya and went up to the Moscow railway station. I was in no hurry anywhere. Thus, I arrived as much as half an hour before departure, and I had time to walk along the entire train, But in principle, it was possible to leave even 10 minutes later, the margin of time quite allowed.
This is what the tail of the train looks like from the dead end of the 4th track. While it looks rather unusual for us, we still have to get used to it.

Hermetically sealed doors.

View of the "Sapsan" from the side of the head of the train - I walked along the platform along the entire train. There were 2 people in the driver's cab; discussed something.

The train consists of 7 cars of class II and 2 cars of class I, as well as one bistro car. Their layout, in principle, is similar (rows of seats 2 + 2), only in the first class there are leather seats, the distances are slightly longer, hot meals are included in the ticket, sockets for each seat and wi-fi. However, the price is doubled.

OK; let's go inside, there are 15 minutes left before departure. The conductor looked at the ticket and passport and launched inside. By the way, there were reports in the press that the conductors were renamed “stewards” on this train, but on the internal broadcast during the journey (near the control compartment) I heard that they are still called conductors: "the conductor of car 3 to come here and there". Hand on heart, I think that there is no need to introduce extra Anglicism into railway terms, this is a rather stupid corporate undertaking. Is the word "guide" a bad word?

Transitions between cars are made by "accordions" without transitional doors. The temperature inside the train is the same everywhere, despite the frost outside; transparent doors to the passenger compartments of the cars themselves open automatically, by a photo sensor - so you can go through the entire train, from head to tail, without ever touching a single door.

We go into the passenger compartment of the 2nd class car. It is made in white and blue tones, with small light yellow and gray splashes. I must say that this is a very easy color combination for the eyes, so in this regard, I had a positive feeling. The light in the cabin is bright enough, even; each seat also has individual lighting from above, which is switched on by the passenger separately. Of the shortcomings, the following should be noted: during cruising, the light is not dimmed, but remains the same intensity. This is not very good, because from early morning, about half of the passengers half an hour after departure fall asleep in their chairs and you can turn off the light. And who needs more - because there is an ind.light! A large window (2 rows) can be covered with gray blinds from the sun.

There are two ways to undress: in the center of the car there is a wardrobe with hangers, clearly visible from almost all rows; and near the windows there are hangers where you can also hang a jacket. And at the top you see a stopcock. It is still in vestibules. There are luggage racks on top of the rows of seats, as well as a place at the very beginning of the passenger compartment for massive bags with wheels. Interestingly, about two-thirds of the passengers got on the train five to ten to fifteen minutes before departure. Probably the specifics of such a high-speed train.

Now let's look at the exit. Ahead is a transition to another car, its interior and a transitional "accordion" are a little visible. To the right of the wall are places for oversized luggage; at the top - LCD display, to the right - a translucent display with flight parameters (time, date, speed, temperature overboard). Stop valve on the left.

Armchairs. Here it is necessary to say this: the seats themselves are a little wider and the distance between the rows is a little more than between the rows of airplane "economy classes". Of course, you can spit on this, but in terms of comfort, the extra 10-15 cm of the width of these distances even play a role. In particular, I was able to get straight into my seat by the window without hunching over like I did in CZA economy class the last time I flew from Helsinki to Prague a couple of months ago. Well, more distance from a neighboring passenger is also good. Probably, these dimensions are closer to the aircraft business class - i.e. it is not entirely correct to compare the Sapsan with the economy class of an aircraft. It’s a sinful thing, I even thought that if airplanes had such seat dimensions for the economy price, then I would be a little more tolerant of cans of sprat-aviation ants.
Of the minuses, I should note that the Russian Railways chose, apparently, the cheapest synthetic version of the upholstery - in any case, this is noticeable to me. On the DB, the upholstery is clearly better.
Armchairs recline somehow very cunningly, "moving" down with a lodgment. It is difficult to explain the technique "on the fingers", it must be seen.

More about the shortcomings. Look carefully at what is in front of the chair. In the Austrian Rail Jet, for example, there is a large convenient “pocket” at the bottom where you can put newspapers, books, a small container of water-juice, some flat thing. Here, alas, this is not the case - a pristinely flat surface. The pocket is at the top, and it small. It's much less convenient! I also noticed the plastic "footrests". They look so flimsy that I immediately thought that a real Russian passenger would quickly break it. Some respectable business guy sat down, sucked on beer before a sweet nap on the trip, pressed harder - and damn this coaster. But the Austrians and Germans have a metal base, not plastic. I think it's not well thought out.
And one more important note. There are only two rubbish bins, at the ends of the car. But it would be possible to make small trash trays in the inter-seat distance, behind the lodgements (Austrians), or periodically in the inter-row space, where the direction of the seats changes (Germans). And it turns out that there is nowhere to put small garbage, and you have to get up all the time and go to throw it away.

There are two things in a small pocket - a booklet for passengers with maps of Moscow / St. Petersburg / transport, all sorts of telephones; and disposable headphones in a package for radio and video channels.

The control panel for radio-video channels is in the distance between seats; you just need to insert the plug into the socket of "your" side. However, in practice, this issue has not been thought out either: it is not clear to anyone that in the four choices of radio channels (even for the conductors so far), the video channel broadcasts synchronous sound with the upper LCD displays, but so far they are mainly playing videos with Sapsan, step by step purchase explanations electronic tickets on the Russian Railways website, and only in the middle of the way they broadcast some kind of film (to be honest, I did not watch it). Yes, and two of the four radio channels are very wheezy. Get your gear up, guys. After all, by this parameter you will be evaluated.

The general interior of the car in motion; Now the LCD displays are working.
Completion of the composition. In my car (No. 7) it was about 30%, but in the neighboring, sixth car, it was about 75-80%. What this difference is, I don't even know. Maybe they sell tickets. But I think evening flights, especially on weekends, will be completely filled.

From good. The folding table is very durable and solid, here you can easily place heavy one and a half liter "grenades" with liquids, and much more. I liked it very much. And in general, it's just great that there are no these air restrictions on liquids, which really piss me off. Take with you juices, water, what you need, food, and I even took a sip from my flask of cognac a couple of times on the way. As for security and escort, the train is escorted by both cops with weapons and inconspicuous guards in civilian clothes (I noticed the latter twice - my eyes are trained). That is, if you suddenly want to specifically get drunk and show off, I think it will be very fraught. Yes, and the image of the train RZD is directly interested in observing.
It is also a plus that the position of the table does not change if the passenger in front changes the position of the chair.

However, the most colossal drawback, which will greatly affect the occupancy of the train on off-peak days and intervals, is the lack of individual sockets in the 2nd class. There are only two per car. I looked that after all in the 1st class it is implemented quite normally. So why not do it in the 2nd? I think such a measure would completely knock out the trump cards of fans of duralumin flying sprat cans. You sit and work on your laptop. Or charge your mobile. Or you play some kind of toy for yourself. Or you use a PDA. In vain, Russian Railways did not think this question through ...
On the other hand, there are reserves for competition and further improvement.

A little about the course of the train. Immediately, I note the pleasant - I really liked the smoothness of the ride. It moves wonderfully, smoothly slows down, does not pull. As well as the soundproofing of the cars - it is quite good. Quite quiet, only the car "sings" a little, barely audible. However, on curves at high speed, it presses sideways. This was noted by me at the beginning of the journey, near Tosno, and once in the middle of the journey. Then there were no such places.
A translucent monitor has been made above the aisle, where the current changeable information about the flight parameters is displayed - date, time, flight, wagon; outside temperature; speed. There are two of them, at the ends of the car. Information is exchanged in two languages: the first is English, the second is Russian. I thought that it would be more convenient to make the monitors permanent, not replaceable. For example, so that all the time, and not periodically, you can see the speed. After all, the location quite allows it.

Dual bio-toilets are located at the end of each car (here - on the left along the way, behind a transparent door).

Wash basin. It was not possible to remove the entire toilet, because You need a very wide angle.

The temperature outside during our flight changed all the time. If we left St. Petersburg at -12, then in Tosno it was already -15, in Lyuban -19, and beyond Chudovo - below -25. After Chudovo, the train picked up speed and at some point I saw such a combination of speed and temperature. Yes, this is real Russia, and not some Provence or Lower Saxony, where there is practically no such thing. I was curious - what about the sealing of the composition with such an extreme combination? I went out into the vestibule, went to the door, ran my hand along the joints. But there was no draft at all, and the temperature was practically the same as in passenger cabin. So the seal is pretty good. Let's see how this case goes...

About the actual speed of movement. I want to say right away that the declared 250 km / h is pure marketing, such as "hard drive capacity". The composition of such a speed never reached. The maximum speed was on the section Chudovo - Bologoe and amounted to 223 km / h. However, on the other hand, the train stably kept cruising at 200 km / h for about 80% of the route - the Sapsan's predecessors had a real average speed was much lower, about 150-175 km / h. Bologoe train passed at 125 km/h, Tver - at 109 km/h, Chudovo - at 155 km/h. Then quickly and smoothly picked up speed again to its cruising 200.

After passing Chudovo, I decided to test the bistro car (No. 5) and drink local coffee. The car is divided into three parts - first the control compartment, then the racks and the bar; then the seating area.
- Good morning! How much is your coffee?
- 60 rubles.
- What about tea?
- So much the same.
Why is nothing written anywhere? There is a wine list, but where is the tea and coffee shop?
- (intimidated) Oh, sorry... not yet...
- Okay ... Pour me a coffee, young lady.
Pour, take. I put the camera on the stand. A bearded cop with a holster at the ready looks out from the control compartment, looks at me, then disappears back into the compartment. Here are two more conductors. We got talking.
- How do you girls worry, huh?
- Yeah ... this is only the second flight for us ... in general ...
- Tell me, can I order coffee right at my place?
- Well maybe (embarrassed, I don't know for sure)
- But as?
- (unsure) Maybe talk to your guide...
- Hm. Okay, I know.
As we talked, they seemed to gradually smile. But at my proposal to collectively photograph them as a keepsake, they were immediately embarrassed. Okay, I didn't insist.

The coffee is average - well, somewhere on the level of the "Perfect Cup". But it's not bad, it's quite normal. It would be foolish to demand the level of Viennese coffee houses, I understand that. But what I would like is porcelain mugs with the symbolism of the composition. And not these faceless international paper ones. And transparent single soulless spoons. The Dynamic Age Of Efficient Brand Managers...

Let's take a look at the seating area of ​​the bistro car, behind the bar counters.

Before Tver it began to get light, and behind it - it was completely dawn. Here is the glow of the sunrise near Klin station.

Photo "out the window" at a speed of 200 km / h. Everything merges into a white stripe.

In the Kryukovo area, the Sapsan slows down to 170 km/h, and in the bright dawn winter sun, the camera already has time to focus.

And here is the Ostankino Needle. Here they also slowed down: we go 95 km / h.

A few pictures were taken by a comrade observer_8 who met me - why should he Thanks a lot. Therefore, I bring his pictures of the arrival of my flight number 151 in Moscow.

Board with the arrival of the flight.

Arrival of "Sapsan" at the Leningradsky railway station. A real blunder, bright sun and frost!

Sapsan carriages.

And this is my picture again: the head of the "Peregrine Falcon" at the dead end. My flight is over.

Here's another good post from a comrade af1461 , with whom we crossed on Saturday in the area near Bologoye at a total speed of about 420 km / h - he was going to St. Petersburg, and I was going to Moscow.

General results: the flight was very pleasant, soft and smooth. At 5:25 I left the house (and could have been later), arrived by metro to the train with a reserve of half an hour, at 10:30 I was in the center of Moscow. No check-ins, heaps of transfers to airports, inspections, checks, restrictions, intermediate stages. Your cognac on the way and St. Petersburg "Baikal" in the bag. In general, after the launch of Sapsan, the very idea of ​​flying to the capital seems absurd to me - this voluntary masturbation will now be suitable mainly for inveterate aviation fans.

And of course, I'm glad that despite various problems, real high-speed communication in a stable mode "several times a day" is finally established. I am not inclined to permanent gloating, like some people, and I rejoice in success. I still remember the grandiose scam of the Yeltsin era "RAO VSM" and the colossal funds that went to no one knows where. And a grandiose pit at the Moscow railway station. Now - it worked.
It is clear that they (the railroad) can be criticized for cost overruns, and for kickbacks, drank, and for this, and for that, and for the fifth, and for the tenth. And here I dug up a lot of shortcomings. And more, probably. Let's look further to see if Russian Railways will not be very impudent with its tariff policy. However, I cannot but admit that the real work has been done. And I respect this fact. Not a concussion and a marketing fart, namely the real deal.
Now we need to improve what we started.

* * *
Well, for a snack, video.

The peregrine falcon is a bird of prey of the falcon family. Pursuing prey, the swift hunter accelerates at the peak to 250-360 km/h. In 2005, an absolute record was registered: the speed of a feathered rocket was 389 km / h.

The Perfect Hunter

The characteristics of the flight of the peregrine falcon influenced its hunting style. The favorite trophies of a feathered predator that does not differ in endurance are pigeons, waders, gulls, ducks, crows and small rodents. The falcon can soar in the sky for hours, describing circles and tracking down its prey. It rises up to a distance of 1.5 km and becomes almost invisible from the ground. Often peregrine falcons hunt in pairs.

Having noticed the prey, the falcon rushes in pursuit. Its goal is to take a comfortable position, from which the predator, having folded its wings, rushes like a stone into a lightning dive. At an angle of incidence of 25 °, the speed of a hunting bird reaches 270 km / h, and for better acceleration, the winged killer tends to descend at an angle close to 90 °.

Having fallen on the victim, a successful hunter takes her life with powerful claws. Sometimes the blow is so strong that the prey's head flies off. If the unfortunate woman manages to survive, then the peregrine falcon finishes her off by breaking the cervical vertebrae with her beak.

A bird that can compete with the wind

Peregrine falcons are distributed all over the world - from the Arctic to South America. Birds prefer to settle in tall trees and rocks near open spaces- favorite hunting grounds.

These representatives of the falcon family have a streamlined muscular body 35-50 cm long and weighing 450-1,500 g. The bird's keen eyes are protected by a third eyelid - a membrane that protects the organs of vision from damage.

The wingspan is 75-120 cm. They are wide at the base and pointed at the ends, which allows the bird to develop high speed, at which air resistance and pressure increase. These factors can cause lung rupture.

To avoid this, nature endowed the peregrine falcon with a beak with two cone-shaped horny tubercles that slow down the flow of air and direct it in different directions. Also, a high heart rate saves from overloads. Its frequency during the throw rises to 600-800 beats per minute.

The sky hunter's body is designed for a fast dive, the speed of which can be compared to the speed small plane. As for horizontal flight, here the peregrine falcon is losing ground as the fastest bird, giving way to the black swift.

The wingspan of the bird is only 45 centimeters, but this fact does not prevent it from accelerating to 180 km / h.

Sapsan is the most fast bird in the world, and in Russia it is the most fast train, which runs between Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as Nizhny Novgorod. The train was developed by the German company Siemens.

The speed of the train is up to 240 km/h. The train, consisting of 10 cars, covers the distance between the two capitals in just 3 hours and 45 minutes. During the trip, the train stops only 5-7 times. And the parking time takes 1-2 minutes.

I recently went to Southern Urals, the path lies through Moscow, there is a transfer point in it. And when I was driving back to St. Petersburg, then from Moscow I decided to go by peregrine falcon, because:

• fast
• convenient and comfortable

This is not the first time I ride a peregrine falcon, so I have some opinion about it.

Prices. This is one of the most unpleasant moments, because there are no cheap tickets for the peregrine falcon. My ticket cost me 2300 rubles for 4 hours of travel. I snatched a ticket at the moment when they were wearing the most low price, is no longer below. 3 years ago I had to pay almost 5 thousand for a ticket.

In general, the price ranges from 2 to 10 thousand. There is also a suite that costs 47,000 rubles (yes, yes, this is not a typo). The price depends on the season, day, upcoming holidays, the time interval between the purchase of a ticket and the trip. The earlier you buy, the better.

Well, here are the prices now for March 10, that is, in a month. For comparison, look at the price of a conventional train. In general, the price of an ordinary reserved seat, which is on the road for 8-9 hours, is from 1000 to 2000 rubles.

Staff. The staff justifies the price. 10 minutes before the departure of the train, the head of the train greeted everyone on the speakerphone, talked about the train, talked about how fast we would accelerate, and at the end wished good luck, after which he repeated everything in English. All this was said very clearly and without interference, and not like in electric trains - with some kind of noise, a sleepy voice, it is not clear what. It's nice to hear, everything is clear. All messages on the speakerphone are dubbed in English.

Also, at the beginning of the trip, they spoke on the speakerphone about the possibilities, explained how and what to use, everything is accessible and understandable.

All guides are smiling, all in a special uniform, it is very pleasant to look at. Moreover, they all speak at least 2 languages, because there are a lot of foreigners on the train. On the badge each conductor has the flags of the countries whose languages ​​they speak. They answer all questions with a smile, and if you buy something from them, they generally idolize.

Contingent. Very different from those who travel to conventional trains. Of course, pigs must also be eaten, but most of quite decent people. No one makes noise, no one laughs for the whole car, no one sticks, no one thumps. In general, none of the passengers seeks to spoil your trip.

Comfort and service. Here I come to the most important thing. I don’t know why, but I want to start with the toilets. Probably because this is a sore subject of Russian Railways. The toilets in the peregrine falcon are very comfortable. The train is equipped exclusively with dry closets, and if someone does not think of throwing paper into the toilet, then everything will be fine. There are 2 toilets in each carriage, but not as usual on both sides, but they are, as it were, glued together. On the floor in the toilet there is no smelly slurry from the urine of all those who ride with you in the car, on the semi-dry! There is no bad smell in the toilet at all. Two large mirrors, lighting built into the ceiling. Convenient washbasin, the water turns on when you bring your hands to the tap. Fragrant liquid soap and paper towels - everything is there. There is also a large toilet for the disabled. And outside you can see whether the toilet is occupied or not.

There are no vestibules familiar to everyone in the train, in which cattle likes to pour and where for some reason I personally am afraid to walk. The peregrine falcon is one whole train, where glass doors themselves open in front of you and now you are already in another car. And the so-called vestibules are not at all what we are used to seeing them. By the way, the entire floor is carpeted. And it’s also forbidden to smoke on the train, which makes me wildly happy!

The train has places for outerwear with hangers. Looks like a big closet. And at the beginning and at the end of the car there are places for luggage, and there are also upper shelves for luggage, they are made in such a way that nothing will fall out of them.

There is also a buffet, but I don’t advise going there - the prices are crazy. The most common nuts (tiny package) 100 rubles. There is no boiling water in the car, so those who like to drink their tea will have to be patient.

There are 2 TVs in each car, which show films and news reports. And in each car there is a display that shows the number of the car, the temperature on the street, the temperature in the cabin, the speed at which the train travels and the time.

The train is very warm, there are no drafts, there is no wind from the windows and the windows do not fog up and do not freeze from the inside.

Each passenger is given a set - the Sapsan magazine, headphones, which you can then take with you (although they will last a maximum of a week), two brochures with useful phones, the ability to call a taxi, you just need to contact the conductor, metro maps in St. Petersburg and Moscow, a memo, a calendar, a trash bag (the conductor walks and collects them at the end) and a questionnaire.

Above each place there are 2 flashlights that you can turn on yourself.

Each seat has tables. And there are places opposite each other. There is one large table for four.

There is also a piece for headphones. It allows you to listen to 2 radio waves, classical music or plays sound from the TV if you are watching a movie.

There is WiFi on the train, but it is free only for business class, for economy it is paid. Conductors sell cards to pay for it.

The chairs themselves are uncomfortable. It is difficult to relax in them, and if the place is not by the window, then it is also difficult to take a nap. After the chair, my coccyx hurt, and many passengers also complained about the inconvenience. In general, strange chairs. They just look comfortable.

​Movement. The train is going very fast, accelerating very fast. Inside, the speed is not felt, and when the train travels slowly, it is generally impossible to distinguish whether it is moving or already standing. At high speed it shakes a little, but in general it goes very smoothly, calmly and quietly - you can’t hear the knock of the wheels, it doesn’t rock you. It is vastly different from ordinary trains.

Buy tickets at least 30 days in advance more chance buy a good place and the chance that the ticket will be cheaper.

Gossip. It is said that the peregrine falcon knocks down a man every day. I doubt this is true, but it does happen. In any case, the people themselves are to blame. Along the entire route of the train, signs are placed indicating that high-speed trains run on this section. But after all, what kind of people we have, they wanted to spit on everything - we’ll slip through. A peregrine falcon flies a distance of a kilometer in a few seconds, besides it moves silently, it cannot stop at such a speed instantly. So, if anything happens, it is the fault of human stupidity and irresponsibility, I think.

˙ ٠ ●Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ● ٠ ˙ Ѽ VERDICT Ѽ˙ ٠ ●Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ● ٠ ˙

I didn't seem to forget anything and said everything I wanted to say.

Sapsan is undoubtedly the most comfortable and fastest train. It is a pleasure to ride it, only the seats are uncomfortable. My 4 hour trip flew by as I ate apples and looked out the window.

Unfortunately, the price is still too high and not everyone can afford such trips. In my opinion, for such prices, the train should be free wifi and should feed at least a little, because to eat in their buffet is to go broke.

But still, I recommend this train, because it is the only one that helps to get there in comfort. And the only train that stands out against the background of the usual domestic junk. In short, it's hard to be dissatisfied.

Good luck! .◕‿◕.

Yesterday I drove a Sapsan 1300 kilometers from Moscow to St. Petersburg and back.
What can I say - it turned out to be one of the shortest, but also one of the most enjoyable trips of the year!
Siemens Velaro RUS train, specially designed for operation in Russia and named by us "Sapsan"
went to the first commercial flight on the evening of December 17, 2009. Adopted development program
high-speed communication - this is the second attempt by the Ministry of Railways / Russian Railways to open more frequently than once a day
daily movement high-speed trains between the two capitals - the previous one ended in the late 1990s
failure for technical and economic reasons.
The train makes a very pleasant impression. Inside is clean and tidy, and the ride is very smooth,
which is facilitated by both the suspension design and the tightened track maintenance standards.
Cruising speed on the Khimki-Slavyanka section - 200 km / h, within the boundaries of St. Petersburg and Moscow - 140 km / h,
at Tver and Bologoe stations - 120 km / h, along Malaya Vishera, Klin and big bridges across the rivers - 140 km / h.
Between Bologoe and Malaya Vishera, on separate stages, the speed limit is 250 km/h,
which can actually be achieved while moving.
It consists of seven cars of the 2nd class, 2 cars of the 1st class (which differ in essence only in leather seats and the presence of sockets),
as well as a bar car. Morning and evening flights cover 646 km in 3 hours 45 minutes -
with at least a 10-minute reserve in case of delays. Daytime is on the way 4:15
and has stops in Tver, Vyshny Volochek, Bolog and Okulovka.
In total, 8 trains were purchased, of which four serve flights (two on the move, one for maintenance and one in reserve).
The rest are intended to open new routes, primarily in Nizhny Novgorod.
The possibility of ordering several more trains is being considered.

The Sapsan is a bullet train manufactured by Siemens and powered by electricity. It was purchased by the Russian Railways joint-stock company for high-speed passenger transportation across the territory of the Russian Federation. The train got its name from the peregrine falcon.

The history of Sapsan in Russia begins with an agreement on the joint development and production of a series of 60 trains based on Intercity-Express, which was signed on April 11, 2005. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took part in this event. The contract amount was 1.5 billion euros, and production was planned to be located in Russia. This type trains, according to the terms of reference, had to reach a speed of at least 300 km / h.

However, these plans were not destined to come true. After the change of management of Russian Railways and the coming to power in the company of Vladimir Yakunin, significant adjustments were made to the contract. Thus, the number of purchased trains decreased to 8 units, and the contract amount - up to 600 million euros. According to the new conditions, the production of trains should be carried out exclusively by a German company, and its implementation and delivery to the customer should have occurred before the end of 2010. In addition, service maintenance of trains for a period of up to 30 years or a mileage of up to 14 million kilometers was envisaged.

These trains were planned to be replaced by railway lines obsolete high-speed locomotives ER-200, which have been in operation since the 80s of the last century.

According to the terms of the contract signed by Russian and German enterprises, it was planned to supply 2 types of trains:

Single-system trains with a voltage of 3 kV DC (version B1), which were supposed to be used on the railway line between St. Petersburg and Moscow;

Dual-system trains (having dual power) with a voltage of 3 kV DC and 25 kV AC (version B2), which were supposed to be launched on the direction of St. Petersburg - Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod.

To create these railway lines, Japanese metallurgists (Nippon Steel) supplied Russia with rails with a total weight of more than 20,000 tons.

In fact, the Sapsan train is a modernized and customized train of the standard Velaro platform manufactured by Siemens. Certain additions were made to the design. So, the operating temperatures for the Sapsan were significantly expanded, and now it can operate in conditions down to -50º C. In addition, the width of the cars was also increased by 0.3 m, which was primarily due to the greater width than in Europe railway gauge used in the Russian Federation.

"Sapsan" is very fast. It is capable of carrying passengers at a speed of 350 km/h, but in Russia its speed is artificially limited to 250 km/h. In the future, on certain sections of Russian Railways, it is planned to allow the train to move at a speed of 330 km/h. It consists of 10 cars that can accommodate 554 passengers and their luggage. The wagons are made of aluminium.

Sapsan carried out its first flight between St. Petersburg and Moscow in July 2009, and since December of this year it began to make regular flights.

The history of "Sapsan" has only one decade, but during this time these trains have already managed to prove themselves. Appreciating their quality, Russian Railways in December 2011 concluded a new contract with Siemens for the supply of 8 more Sapsan trains (project Velaro RUS). The contract value, which includes trains and their maintenance, amounted to 600 million euros.

The first train under the new contract was delivered to the Russian railway December 3, 2013. By August 2014, 12 Sapsan trains carried passengers across Russia.