Russian Railways in our country, as you know, is a monopoly in terms of railroad transportation of the population. Perhaps this company has earned some criticism in terms of the quality of passenger service. But she still tries to keep up with the times. For example, relatively recently, Russian Railways customers were able to purchase tickets for trains, including long-distance ones, via the Internet. And therefore, the question of how to buy an electronic ticket is of interest to many citizens of the Russian Federation today.
The convenience of this method of acquiring a travel document is as follows:
- the ability to make a purchase without leaving home;
- the ability to choose the most convenient place.
A person who decides to buy train tickets in this way does not have to go to the station or to the nearest ticket office with documents and money, and also stand in a long queue (for which Russian Railways, of course, is "famous"). Also, when buying a ticket online, a future passenger has the opportunity to choose a seat:
- in a more convenient carriage for yourself (with a dry closet and air conditioning, and not the old model, with the possibility of transporting animals, etc.);
- in the most suitable place of the carriage.
The last point will be most relevant for people traveling in whole companies. When shopping online, they can choose nearby locations. Also, some seats in Russian Railways cars are more expensive, and some are cheaper. Therefore, the choice can be made, and based on their financial capabilities.
So how and where to buy an electronic train ticket
The easiest and most reliable way to make such a purchase is on the official website of Russian Railways. The procedure in this case will initially be as follows:
- go to the Russian Railways website, register and log in;
- enter the name of the departure point in the "From" form (the form itself will give a hint after entering the first letters);
- enter the name of the destination in the "Where" form;
- choose the date of departure.
How can I buy an e-ticket itself? To do this, further simply click on the "Buy" button. After a while, the form will display suitable routes. If there are no trains on the selected date, we go back and try other nearest numbers. We mark the desired route. In the line of the route on the right, press "Coupe" or "reserved seat". Next, in the window that opens, select the number of the car you like with a marker. It is on this page that you can get information (in the form of icons) about the presence or absence of a dry closet and an air conditioner in the carriage.
As soon as the marker is placed, the carriage diagram will open showing the seat numbers. We look to see if there are free and suitable ones. If not, choose another carriage. Press the button "Go to data entry and seat selection". After that, the form for entering passport data will open. You need to fill it out as carefully as possible. Unfortunately, the form on the Russian Railways website is not very convenient. If you wish, you can also insure yourself against accidents here by ticking the appropriate boxes. But this is optional.
Further, at the very bottom, you will need to click on the places you like, and then on the "Reserve" button. If you did everything correctly, the ticket will be assigned to you for a few minutes. During this time, you must manage to pay for it using a bank card or electronic wallet - right here, on the Russian Railways website, in the usual way for the Internet. After that, the purchased ticket will appear in your personal account in the "Orders" section on the right.
How to get on the train
Thus, it is clear how to buy an electronic ticket for a Russian Railways train. But how do you use it? At most railway stations, Russian Railways has provided for the possibility of electronic check-in upon boarding. At such stations, the passenger does not need to perform any additional actions after purchasing a ticket. All that is required of him for boarding is to show the ticket from his personal account and his passport to the conductor on his smartphone.
If electronic registration at the station is not provided or there is simply no smartphone or tablet, the electronic ticket will have to be printed out on a printer. You can also arrive at the station early, taking into account the possible queue, and do the same through the cashier, telling him the number of the payment transaction (starting with 8) or through a special terminal. In this case, a printed ticket and passport are presented to the conductor upon boarding.
