How many minutes does it take for a long-distance train to arrive? What do you have the right to on the train: where to smoke, when to check out your laundry, etc. Regarding ticket prices on holidays

Have you ever traveled on Russian Railways trains?
Have you bought train tickets?

Have you ever asked at the ticket office (or through the Russian Railways website) for a ticket for the desired date and found no seats on the train? Or discover that there are only reserved seats left near the toilet?
Prudent people buy tickets in advance - several weeks in advance. But when they discover such a situation, they usually begin to panic.

I will tell you one secret that will make your travel on Russian Railways trains more comfortable.

How do different people buy tickets?

Let's consider 3 scenarios:

1. Alarmists.
Train tickets go on sale 45 days before departure.
BUT! A very small number of tickets go on sale within 45 days. These tickets are usually some of the worst. And yet, they are all immediately snapped up by panickers who see that there are few tickets left on sale. As a result, the alarmists are happy - they grabbed the penultimate ticket in the reserved seat on the side.

2. Ordinary people.
An ordinary citizen realizes that it is time to buy a ticket a couple of weeks before the trip. He goes to the ticket office, goes to the Russian Railways website and sees that the worst seats remain: a reserved seat near the toilet or a high-price compartment. Not wanting to drive near the toilet, he buys a higher-priced coupe. And I’m happy that, although I overpaid, I will travel in comfort. Promising himself that next time he will take care of buying a ticket in advance. However, this promise will certainly be forgotten.

3. Lucky
Some lucky people remember that they need to travel in a couple of days. And some are determined right on the day of departure - for example, when the boss allows you to take a day off. They arrive at the station like a bullet and, without waiting in line, calmly buy themselves the best seat: either a good inexpensive compartment or a high-quality reserved seat in the most trump spot. Sometimes they are still surprised that such places have not been sold out before them. But they explain this to themselves by the fact that they are always lucky in life anyway.

Tickets do not go on sale immediately, but in small portions. Portions go on sale for a certain amount of time: 45, 30, 15, 10, 7, 3 and 1 days and another portion an hour before departure!

The first tickets go on sale 45 days in advance. And this, as I wrote above, is only a small part of the places and, indeed, these are the worst places.
There is no need to rush to buy them.

The largest releases of tickets on sale occur 10 days in advance and in the morning on the day of departure (or 24 hours). Then you need to buy tickets.

Plus, the release that occurs over 3 days is sometimes also large, because... It is during this period that it is decided whether to include additional cars in the train.

In general, the correct algorithm is:
- having realized in a couple of weeks that it’s time for you to buy tickets, focus on the ticket sales periods indicated above and periodically (once a day, for example) monitor tickets on the RZD.RU website. If there are no tickets you need right now, then just WAIT QUIETLY.
- when tickets that suit you appear, buy them directly on the website.

PS/FYI:
- I knew and used the idea before, and I found the timing for the release of tickets

And one more useful link with information about how the sale of tickets for trains passing through territories belonging to different railway departments works (for example, the Moscow-Kyiv train).

Conclusion from there:
You shouldn’t buy tickets at a regular box office with a stupid cashier (which is the majority), but you need to buy tickets via the Internet or at a service center.

We try to arrive at the train station an hour before the train departs. But this is because the city where we live is large and the trains stop at the station for 30 or 40 minutes. The cars are filled with water, food is loaded into the restaurant, parcels and letters are loaded into the post cars.

Therefore, if you arrive half an hour before departure, the train will already be standing at the platform, the first passengers have already entered the carriages and you will have to wait until they pack their suitcases and get settled in.

Usually we buy tickets in advance and choose the lower seats. If you arrive at the station before the train arrives, you can be one of the first to enter the carriage and it will no longer turn out that someone has already put their suitcases in the locker under the bottom bunk. You’ll have to ask your fellow travelers to remove them, but you don’t want to start your trip with conflicts.

Once I was reading the rules at the railway station, I was just sitting in front of the stand, it was written there that arrival at the station for passengers to avoid being late there should be in 30-40 minutes.

I usually manage to do it in an hour, so I can take my time, look around, find the exit to the platform and buy what I didn’t have time for on the road (this has happened more than once).

If you are going on a trip abroad and you will also need to go through passport control at the station, then it is better to arrive at the railway station an hour before departure.

If you are traveling within the country (the so-called domestic flight), then you can arrive at the station 25 - 30 minutes before the train departs.

It will be best if you arrive at the railway station in about 40 minutes. And there is no rush.

I think it’s optimal to arrive 40 minutes in advance.

1. Search at the entrance to the station (in Moscow)
2. If the station is unfamiliar, it is not immediately possible to figure out where to go (especially at large stations, and where suburban trains depart from)
3. Trains can be very long. You can walk 5-10 minutes to your carriage
4. It’s better to be one of the first to arrive at your place in order to calmly decompose.

• In my opinion, of course, it’s better to arrive at the station an hour, or even an hour and a half in advance, since you still have to go through security, and choose a place that you personally like, it’s better not to be late; you never know what delays may arise due to documents, and everything can be resolved in an hour and calmly goes on the road.

  It is important to know the arrival time of the train and the time the train stops at the station; it is also necessary to take into account the travel time to the railway station (rush hour, traffic jams).

  Before the train arrives, the optimal time of arrival at the railway station is 30 minutes, because After arrival, you will have time to present your tickets to the conductor, get bed linen (if the trip is long) and calmly settle down in your place.

  To safely board the carriage and take your seat without any problems, it is best to arrive early, taking into account the possibility of losing time in traffic jams. We leave the house an hour before the train arrives at the station, although there are only four stops on public transport. Five minutes walk to the stop, if there are no traffic jams, then ten minutes drive. With traffic jams it sometimes takes longer, up to 25 minutes. But in any case, we get to the station before the train arrives.

  Of course, you can leave later, but then suddenly you will have to be nervous and afraid of being late.

  But we sat at the station for a while, heard an announcement about which platform the train was arriving at, and we calmly went out to it.

  A quarter of an hour before departure.

  That's how long it takes to find out which platform the train departs from and get there.

  Usually the train has already arrived for boarding, and there will be time to sit down and relax.

  If the station is large, it is advisable to arrive there half an hour before the expected departure.

  We always plan to arrive at the station 30-40 minutes before departure.

  Much, of course, depends on how long the train stops.

  In our city, trains take 20-25 minutes.

  Therefore, you need to arrive 5-10 minutes earlier than this time to see which track and platform the train will arrive on.

  We went on an excursion to a small town, so the train stood there for only 3 minutes, We just managed to find the carriage and jump on, we didn’t even check the tickets.

  Therefore, there was no point in arriving half an hour in advance. You could arrive 10 minutes before departure.

According to the rules - on platforms You can smoke if the station building is at least 15 meters away.

“The ban on the consumption of tobacco products does not apply to platforms and platforms serving as stopping places for long-distance trains for boarding and disembarking passengers and equipping railway cars, with the exception of places located at a distance of less than fifteen meters from the entrances to the premises of railway stations”, - says the commentary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Federal Law of February 23, 2013 N 15-FZ (as amended on December 31, 2014) “On protecting the health of citizens from the effects of environmental tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption.” The text of the law can be viewed, about trains - Article 12.

Smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the long-distance train.

In practice, they smoke on the platform. While the train is moving - at inter-car joints (in new trains, for example "Strizhe", this will not work). This is illegal, and the conductor has the right to call the police accompanying the train, you will be fined. More often, they will offer to buy a lottery ticket for 100 rubles, which will serve as some guarantee that you will not be noticed with a cigarette. Warning: decide to do this at your own peril and risk, this is a direct violation of the law. We are not responsible for this.

Can you drink beer on the train?

No. And the sale of beer by the conductor is also prohibited. In the dining car - yes. (Link to law)

At the same time, no one can control what you do in your compartment behind closed doors. Lock the door, put away bottles when the conductor, inspectors or customs officers enter, and do not disturb other passengers in the same compartment. Disclaimer: We are not responsible for the consequences if you choose to do so.

The peace of mind of other passengers is most important. If the compartment is purchased by you entirely or you are traveling with friends who are comfortable drinking alcoholic beverages, the compartment is not considered a public place. In a number of comments to Art. 25 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the inviolability of the home, a separate compartment is equated to it. In any other case, the compartment is a public place and you cannot drink in it. And if your neighbors are not satisfied with drinking alcohol in your compartment, they have every right to complain about a violation of public order, and then the situation falls under the Code of Administrative Offenses.

If a drunk passenger causes inconvenience to others and behaves aggressively, other passengers have the right, through the conductor, to call the police from the nearest station (sometimes security officers accompany the train itself). The offender will spend the next hours or days at the police station.

Should the conductor lay down the linen?

• In compartment cars, SV and soft carriages, the upper shelves are always covered immediately. But if you are traveling not from the initial station, but from an intermediate station, and another passenger occupied the berth in front of you, the conductor may not have time to rearrange the linen during the stop. If he doesn't do it later, remind him.
• In carriages of any category, elderly people, disabled people, children, pregnant women and sick passengers can ask the conductor to make bed linen. This is free and is part of the conductor’s job responsibilities (he has it in his instructions).
• In branded trains (in carriages of all categories), bedding on the upper bunks is also covered by the conductors before the train arrives for boarding.

In other cases, the guide is not required to make the bed.

When should you drop off your laundry?

You are not required to collect and return laundry. Strictly speaking, this is the responsibility of the conductor (according to his job description):

“On the route of a passenger train, the conductor is obliged... to remove bedding after passengers disembark; in exceptional cases, with the consent of passengers, it is allowed to remove bedding no earlier than 30 minutes before passengers arrive at the railway station for disembarkation.”

However, in reality, it is not easy for the conductor to collect bed linen from 54 seats (in a reserved seat carriage) and quickly hand it over to the service department at the arrival station, so conductors ask passengers to hand over the linen themselves.

What to do if you have passed your station?

According to the rules, the conductor is obliged to warn you that you are approaching your station no later than 30 minutes before arrival. If you didn’t get off at your station because there was no conductor at all, the door wasn’t opened for you, they didn’t wake you up, etc., start a scandal. Find the conductor or the head of the train. Find out more about what you can do.

If you were warned, but you fell asleep again or for some other reason you missed the station, you will have to get off at the next one and look for ways to return.

What should you do if you are kicked off the train because there is no electronic check-in?

Before you go, look at your e-ticket. If you have passed, to board the train you need a printout of the electronic ticket and the document for which it was purchased. You can print it on a regular printer on A4 sheet, or you can display the electronic ticket on the screen of your mobile device. If there is no ER, you must have a ticket with you on a standard Russian Railways form. You won't be allowed on the train without it.

It’s extremely rare, but there are overlaps. If it turns out that you are already on the train, but you are disembarked due to the lack of ER, you need to do the following:

1. Look at the schedule for the nearest stop with a normal station (not just an open platform) lasting at least 15 minutes. The schedule hangs on the door of the conductor's compartment, you can also look it up on the Internet.
2. At this stop, get off and (or at the ticket office if the lines are short). You need to know the electronic ticket number (written on top of it) and have with you the document for which the ticket was purchased. Even though the trip has already begun, the ticketing system allows this.

Why do they check tickets again after the train departs?

According to the rules for transporting passengers, you must present a ticket when boarding the train. The conductor checks it and your documents and lets you into the carriage.

But according to the same rules, at any time before the train departs, you have the right to change your mind and leave. And hand over the ticket to the box office. That is why, when boarding, the control ticket or stub is not torn off from it.

Once the train has started, the trip is considered to have begun. And then the conductor walks through the carriage, collects tickets, and processes them. By the way, the ticket must be returned to you before the end of the trip (usually returned before arriving at your station).

How much do tea and other goods on the train actually cost?

It depends on the brand of the train and the type of tea. It is important to know this: on the door of the conductor’s compartment there is most often a menu with prices indicated. The menu can be visible and with pictures, or it can be an inconspicuous sign in small print hanging near the titanium. Look how much that bottle of water you buy costs. Unfortunately, guides do not always tell you the correct price.

All goods that you buy from the conductor must have a JSC FPK sticker, even tea bags and chips. If there is no sticker, this is a personal bonus for the conductor. If they pour granulated sugar on you, and don’t give you sugar in a branded bag, then too.

Boiling water, dishes (glass, spoon), soap and toilet paper in the toilet, and a first aid kit are provided by the conductor free of charge.

Who can put luggage in the locker under the bottom bunk?

The priority right to use the lower seat for placing hand luggage on long-distance trains is the passenger traveling on the lower bunk, and the right to use the upper seat is the passenger traveling on the upper bunk.

Rules for the transportation of passengers, luggage, cargo luggage by rail (approved by order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated December 19, 2013 No. 473), article 112.

Many people sometimes face the question of when to buy a train ticket cheaper. During the high season (summer, holidays, school holidays) there are often no tickets for many destinations. Some passengers, due to health reasons, can only travel on the bottom bunk, and such seats are sold out first.

How to proceed and what can be done to resolve these issues?

The best solution is to buy RZD (short for “Russian Railways”) tickets as soon as they go on sale.

From December 10, 2017, ticket sales are open for 90 days. For some trains, ticket sales start at 120 , behind 60 , behind 45 or for 30 days before the train departs. Ticket sales open at the same time as at the ticket offices in the region of departure of the train.

• on trains No. 1/2 “Red Arrow” Moscow – St. Petersburg,
• No. 3/4 “Express” Moscow – St. Petersburg.

From April 1 and only until August 31, 2019 120 days they start selling train tickets:

• No. 5/6 “Ocean” Khabarovsk – Vladivostok,
• No. 101/102 “Premium” Moscow – Adler,
• No. 747/748 “Nevsky Express” Moscow – St. Petersburg and
• for all high-speed trains “Sapsan” Moscow – St. Petersburg.

Tickets for trains departing across Russian borders have the following start dates for ticket sales:

• CIS and Baltic countries, Abkhazia - 45 days. But for some trains tickets are sold 60 days in advance.
• Far abroad (train Moscow - Paris, etc.) - 60 days.
• Ukraine and Moldova - within 30 days.

You can go to the Russian Railways website, enter the names of the cities “there”, “back” and find out whether ticket sales for the direction you have chosen are already open, read more.

If you already know the date of your trip, I suggest using a calculator and finding out when you should buy tickets for your chosen date.

1 Calculator for calculating the period of 90, 60 or 45 days before train departure

How many days in advance can you buy a train ticket in 2019? From December 10, 2017 tickets can be purchased in 90 days, for a number of trains for 120, 60 or 45 days.

To find out when ticket sales open for the date you need, select it in the calendar below. The program will tell you what date the sale will open (or is already open) on that date.

Today is included in the calculation.

Attention! The period of 90 days in the calculator is set by default (that is, the calculation is done “automatically”). If you need to calculate a period of 120, or 60 or 45 days, then

• above in the field of the calculator located under the heading: “How many days in advance does the sale begin?” you should choose 120, 60 or 45 days,
• find the desired month,
• click on the appropriate number,
• After this, a calculation will appear for the selected number of days: for 120, 60 or 45.

How to use the calculator?

Let's say we need to calculate the date when to buy a ticket for a train leaving on May 9, 2018. On the calendar presented above, you need to select the month May 2018, and then click on the number 9. After clicking on the date, the calculation will automatically appear:
“You chose: 05/09/2018 and payment in 90 days

Sales for the selected date begin: 02/09/2018.”

Pay attention to:

• month,
• departure date,
• choice of calculation in 90 days.

To select a month and year in the calendar window, click on the right or left arrow. The arrow to the right scrolls through the months upward from the month indicated in the window, and the arrow to the left scrolls through the months downward. After the month of December there is a transition to the next year. If you keep clicking, you can get to 2018, 2019, 2020, etc.

Once the month and year have been selected, you need to select a date. To do this, click on the appropriate date in the calendar. This completes the selection of year, month and date.

Once the train departure date is selected, a message automatically appears with the date when for the selected period: 120, or 90, or 60 or 45 days You need to buy a ticket from the date you choose.

2 When to buy tickets 90 days in advance for June, July, August, September 2019?

3 Sales opening time. How to buy a ticket on the Russian Railways website on the opening day of sales

Why is it better to buy a ticket from the minute sales open?

• It is possible to select seats, including choosing lower seats.
• Minimum price for tickets with dynamic pricing.

Opening time for ticket sales at the Russian Railways box office and on the Russian Railways website (official information from the Russian Railways website): http://pass.rzd.ru/static/public/ru?STRUCTURE_ID=5210

Before 8 o'clock in the morning (more precisely, before the start of sales, and in different regions this time may be different, local) you should go to your personal account “My Orders” on the Russian Railways website. In order not to miss the start of sales, you should periodically refresh your browser page. To do this, almost every browser has a “Refresh Page” arrow button. In Fig. 1 “Update” button is surrounded by a green frame.

When ticket sales are opened, all trains will be available 90 days in advance. In your personal account “My Orders” you should select a train, carriage, seat, more details.

Rice. 1. Car layout and selection of a suitable seat

If you select a seat in the “Car Diagram” (1 in Fig. 1) and click on the “Save” button (2 in Fig. 1), then, unfortunately, this does not guarantee that you will have time to buy these seats. It happens that someone manages to pay for the seats earlier and then the payment does not go through.

The most unpleasant thing is when an error message appears when proceeding to payment or at the time of payment. This means that, alas, you are out of luck and that the bank cannot withdraw money for seats already paid for by someone who was more efficient. Alas, you need to pull yourself together and, from the very beginning, in your personal account, again make a choice and pay for tickets from those that remain by this time.

This situation does not occur often, but can occur at a time of special shortage of tickets (in the summer or before public holidays). And, unfortunately, none of the Internet users are immune from this. As the software improves, I think Russian Railways programmers will find a way to avoid this kind of incident when selling tickets online on the Russian Railways website.

4 How to see 60 or 45 days on the official website of Russian Railways

We go to the official website of Russian Railways (you can WITHOUT registering on the site) using the link:

Rice. 2. Russian Railways website: when does ticket sales begin 45 days in advance and 60 days in advance?

Having opened the Russian Railways website (I repeat, it is NOT needed on the website for this), click on the calendar opposite “There” (2 in Fig. 2). You need to make sure that the date there is today. Otherwise, you need to select the date today on the calendar.

Having selected a number, we will see the dates shaded in yellow and green. In this case, the countdown starts from the date, which is highlighted in bright blue (in Fig. 2 this is July 1). The last date, highlighted in yellow, will be the date when ticket sales begin 45 days in advance. Accordingly, the last green date means that it is on this date that ticket sales begin 60 days in advance.

• 45 days will be on August 14, 2016. This means that on July 1 at 8 a.m. local time, ticket sales will begin on the official Russian Railways website for trains departing on August 14.
• 60 days will be on August 29, 2016. In other words, on July 1 at 8 a.m. local time, ticket sales will begin on the Russian Railways website for trains departing on August 29 (if sales for a train open 60 days in advance and not 45 days in advance).

5 How to calculate 60 days manually

The secret of the calculation is that today must be included. To calculate 60 days, there are at least 3 ways:

If none of these methods suits you for some reason or you still have doubts, ask below in the comments, and we’ll figure it out together.

Direct calculation 60 days from the date

• First, we manually calculate 60 days, directly starting from a certain date,
• and then we will calculate the other way around, that is, 60 days FROM a certain date.

The easiest way is to manually calculate 60 days, having at hand a calendar with large numbers where you can poke your finger (or mouse) if necessary.

Let's calculate 60 days from August 1, 2017, that is, we will calculate: for what date will it be possible to buy tickets in 60 days if you buy them on August 1.
So:
1, 2, …, August 31 – 31 days in total,
September 1 – 32nd day,
September 2 – 33rd day,
:::
September 29 – 60th day.
Or in one line: 31 (days in August) + 29 (days in September) = 60 days.

Thus, in 60 days You need to buy train tickets for September 29, 2017 on August 1, 2017. on the official website of Russian Railways at the time when sales open at Russian Railways ticket offices in the region of departure of the train (For example, in Moscow and St. Petersburg this is 8 a.m.).

Reverse calculation 60 days for a date

Let's take the date when the train departs and calculate when to buy tickets 60 days in advance for this date.

Train tickets for September 3, 2017 must be purchased 60 days in advance on July 6, 2017. at 8 a.m. local time on the official website of Russian Railways (when Russian Railways ticket offices open in the region of train departure). The calculation is as follows:
3 (days in September) + 31 (days in August) + 26 (days in July: 31, 30, …, 7, 6) = 60 days

This means that on July 6, 2017, you should go to the Russian Railways website at 8 a.m. local time (or when the ticket office opens in the region of train departure) and purchase tickets for September 03, 2017.

How to independently calculate 60 days before the train departs?

We count down 60 days for the train departing January 8, 2017:
1, 2, …, January 8 – eight days,
December has 31 days, so 31+8=39 days,
November 30 – 40th day,
November 29 – 41st day,
:::
November 10 – 60 days for a train departing on January 8.

Or the same calculation of 60 days for a train departing on January 8, 2017 in one line:
8 (days in January) + 31 (days in December) + 21 (days in November: 30, 29, 10) = 60 (days)

So, 60 days in advance, tickets for a train departing January 8, 2017, should be purchased November 10, 2016 on the official website of Russian Railways at the same time as at the ticket office in the region of departure of the train. (In Moscow and St. Petersburg this is 8 o'clock in the morning.)

If the train leaves February 22, 2017, then count back 60 days:
22 (days in February) + 31 (days in January) + 7 (days in December: 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25) = 60 days.

Thus, in 60 days tickets for February 22, 2017 should be purchased on December 25, 2016 on the official website of Russian Railways at the same time as the ticket office opens in the region of departure of the train. (For Moscow and St. Petersburg this is 8 a.m.).

Tickets 60 days in advance on February 26, 2017 it is better to buy December 29, 2016 on the official website of Russian Railways from the beginning of sales, when Russian Railways ticket offices open in the region of train departure. This calculation goes like this:
26 (days in February) + 31 (days in January) + 3 (days in December: 31, 30, 29) = 60 days.

Buy in 60 days tickets for March 7 are needed January 7, 2017 on the official website of Russian Railways that year. the moment when ticket offices open in the region of train departure. The calculation is done like this:
7 (days in March) + 28 (days in February) + 25 (days in January: 31, 30, …, 7) = 60 days.

6 How to buy 2 lower seats on the Russian Railways website

As you know, on the Russian Railways website for two people from one personal account you can simultaneously buy only one lower seat, and upper seats - without restrictions. You can’t buy two lower seats from one personal account at once, it won’t work. I DO NOT consider SV cars that only have one or two lower bunks.

The option remains when one ticket for a lower seat is purchased in one personal account “My Orders” on the Russian Railways website in one browser. And another ticket for the lower seat is purchased in another personal account, and always in a different browser.

With this approach, you can purchase 2 lower seats. But you will need:

• two personal accounts: each passenger must have his own personal account on the Russian Railways website,
• two browsers, for example, Mozilla and Internet Explorer, or two computers (for example, a laptop and a tablet).

You will need to select the train in the first browser (on the first computer). Then go to another browser (on another computer) and select the same train there.

Switch again to the first browser (to the first computer), select a carriage and seat on the train. Go to another browser (on another computer) and there select the same carriage and a suitable seat.

Finally, pay for the ticket in the first browser (on the first computer), go to the second browser (on the second computer) and pay for the ticket there.

7 How to distinguish the official website of Russian Railways from an intermediary website

Intermediary sites sell the same tickets that are sold on the official website of Russian Railways, but with surcharges for service. Moreover, the extra charges can be significant; these extra charges are especially noticeable when returning tickets. If on the official website of Russian Railways a commission of approximately 185 rubles is charged for the return of one ticket, then on the intermediary website the commission for a refund can be several times (!) higher.

To distinguish the official Russian Railways website from an intermediary site, we look up and look at the address bar of our browser. If at the beginning of the address bar there are the symbols: “rzd.ru”, then these very symbols (rzd.ru) are the only and sure sign that you are on the official website of Russian Railways.

Number 1 in Fig. Figure 2 shows that the address bar of the browser contains the symbols “rzd.ru”, therefore, we are on the right track - on the official website of Russian Railways.

If the address bar of the browser does not contain the symbols “rzd.ru” or they are found in combination with other symbols such as “rzd-online.ru”, then this is an intermediary site.
Let's start with a question about which there is no other way to describe it than a cry from the heart.

8 Where do tickets disappear before they start being sold at the Russian Railways ticket office?

Let's remember that ticket sales begin 90 days in advance:

• at Russian Railways ticket offices (opening depends on the region of Russia) and
• on the official website of Russian Railways (at the moment of local time when Russian Railways ticket offices open in the region of train departure).

It happens that future passengers line up at the Russian Railways ticket office early in the night, stand in line for several hours, are the first to approach the railway ticket office, but there may no longer be any tickets available. Why, where did they go?

1) There are different time zones in Russia, hence the time shift. Russian Railways ticket offices open 45 days in advance at 8 a.m. local time in each region. For example, when in the summer it is 8 o’clock in the morning in Moscow, then in Irkutsk it will be 13 o’clock, and in Samara it will be 9 o’clock.

This is one of the reasons why tickets can be sold out earlier by passengers who, for example, are traveling from afar with transfers. It’s just that on the Russian Railways website and the railway ticket office they start selling tickets earlier.

From December 11, 2016, ticket sales begin simultaneously on the Russian Railways website and at the ticket offices of the region from which the train departs.

2) The main reason why it is difficult to buy tickets is that Russian Railways tickets are now purchased 90 days in advance not at the railway ticket offices, but online on the official Russian Railways website at 8 a.m. local time. And on the website you can do this much faster than the line at the checkout.