Passengers on all Russian long-distance train routes will be able to register online for their trips from Dec. 1 and avoid the last-minute rush to find an available self-service ticket machine, Russian Railways said.
Those who check in online can board trains by simply showing their boarding passes to the conductor on the screens of their electronic devices, the company said Thursday in an online statement. Only trains to and from Kaliningrad, which have to leave Russia for part of their journey, will not provide this option, and passengers will still be required to present their passport or another form of photographic ID on all routes.
Passengers will need to register for their trips no later than an hour before the train leaves the first station on its route, regardless of where the passenger intends to board. That means that a passenger planning to board a Moscow-Vladivostok train near the end of the route in the Far East will have to register for the trip several days before the train reaches the station.
Previously, online registration was only available for passengers boarding at stations within four hours travel from the start of the route. Others had to print out their boarding passes at a train station through a cashier's booth or a self-service machine.
Russian Railways has been trying to improve its image in recent years by modernizing its stations and putting more comfortable trains into service.