Aeroexpress, a company that operates commuter train services from Moscow airports to the city, has finally launched double-decker trains. The first trip took place on October 27 from Moscow's Kievsky Station to Vnukovo Airport, Travel.ru's own correspondent reports.
The approximate schedule of the double-decker trains in the near future is as follows: departures from Kievsky Station at 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 15:30, 17:30 and 19:30, from Vnukovo at 6:00, 8:00, 10:00, 16:30 and 18:35, Aviablogger.com reports. The line operates 6-car trains, accommodating 616 passengers in standard class (seat layout in a row 3 + 2) and 84 in business class (layout 2 + 2).
Unlike regular trains, all seats recline slightly. In business class, each seat has a power outlet, in standard class there are only 8 per car and they are away from the seats near the steps.
They should appear on the Domodedovo line in the second half of November – possibly in a double version of 6 and 4 cars. The four-car train holds the same 84 business class seats and 312 standard ones. There are no plans to send them to Sheremetyevo – the double-decker train is too bulky to pass under the bridge at Belorussky Station.
The double-deckers, which Aeroexpress forgot about this feature when ordering, became a long-term headache for the company instead of a breakthrough. According to unofficial data, due to the non-standard nature of this rolling stock, the carrier now has problems even sending it to the depot for maintenance from time to time - the existing infrastructure in Moscow is far from ready to handle double-deckers everywhere.
The process of ordering trains also turned into a farce, although not through the fault of Aeroexpress. After the collapse of the ruble due to well-known political events, the company could no longer afford to pay for the entire order, and as a result, about half of the trains went to work in Azerbaijan and Georgia. As a result, the company received, as far as is known, 11 trains in 4- and 6-car configurations.
However, despite the delays and problems, the double-decker could be an improvement for the company's passengers. It has plenty of space for luggage, more toilets than in the current trains, changing tables and the like.
The speed of the new model is also theoretically much higher – up to 160 kilometers per hour, but there is no place to demonstrate it in Moscow for a double-decker. No serious changes in the train schedule are expected yet. On the Vnukovo line, some trains will run in 34 minutes instead of the previous 35, and one night trip – even in 33.
Source: travel.ru
