The train to St. Petersburg signals that we come to a part of the world where there is serious money. This ultramodern Siemens train zooms along beautiful tracks all the 700km to St.Petersburg in just a few hours. Here it is called Sapsan, but it is more or less the same as the German ICE-3 platform and what they call CRH3 in China. Fantastic comfort and wifi available for free in 1st class. (We were as usual in 2nd class, so we chose to not use this service.

Small tip for travellers along this line. Departure station on the ticket is marked “Moscow OKT”, and they really mean “Leningradsky Station”. This gave us a bit of morning panic and some recognition laughs from people around us…

Modern and silent, Siemens magic!

However, with Siemens, there was no samovar in the train. There is still room for improvement!

At arriving to St.Petersburg – we came to the starting point of the “International Economic Forum“, just before President Putin himself arrived, so the welcoming was of the highest standards.

Coming out of the train station we were welcomed by flags and sunshine! The Hero-City-Star is still shining strong!