In 2018, over 4.5 million passengers travelled on the double-decker trains operated by the Federal Passenger Company (FPC), 36.7% more than in 2017, including 342,000 people in December, an increase of 41.7 % during the same month in the previous year.
Passenger traffic on double-decker trains accounted for 4.7% of the total volume of the FPC’s long-distance traffic in 2018.
The most popular routes were Moscow – Voronezh, which accounted for 29% of the total, followed by Moscow – St. Petersburg (25%) and Moscow – Adler (10%).
The number of routes served by double-decker carriages is constantly expanding. In December 2018, a double-decker train service was launched between Moscow and Izhevsk and transported about 40,000 people during its first month from 10 December 2018 to 9 January 2019.
At the moment, 12 pairs of double-decker trains on 9 routes are in service on the entire network of Russia’s railways: from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Adler, Kazan, Voronezh, Samara, Kislovodsk and Izhevsk, as well as from St. Petersburg to Adler and from Rostov-on-Don to Adler.
The most popular destinations are Moscow – Adler, Moscow – Voronezh, Moscow – Samara and Moscow – St. Petersburg.
A double-decker train can carry almost twice as many passengers as conventional rolling stock with just a single deck.
The Federal Passenger Company has been operating double-decker carriages since 2013 and purchases new carriages every year. The FPC acquired 65 double-deckers in 2018 alone.
As a result, FPC’s fleet currently has more than 360 double-decker carriages of various types, including sleeping cars, compartment carriages, carriages with staff and administrative compartments and with compartments for passengers with disabilities, with seating positions and dining cars.
For the convenience and safety of passengers, the carriages are equipped with modern systems to maintain a suitable microclimate, environmentally friendly toilet facilities, security control systems and multimedia systems. Each compartment has sockets for charging mobile devices. In sleeper cars, each seat is equipped with an LCD display for viewing video programmes. Access to compartments are by individual magnetic key cards.
Each double-decker train is also adapted for people with disabilities. Staff cars with special compartments have an increased area and lifting gear and other equipment necessary for a comfortable trip. All the necessary information is available in Braille.
